What If?

What if Americans finally woke up to face the fact that we are brainwashed by a bunch of criminals?

I break my YouTube (Manila Ryce will be glad to hear that) boycott to present this video which asks the exact questions each and every American should be asking themselves.

If you don’t ask yourself these questions… or worse,  if you believe these questions should not be answered, then you are no friend of mine and are not an American patriot. As a matter of fact, you are a hindrance to America’s progress and need to move somewhere else.

What if I told you that the above video will eventually be historic?

Cell Phone Reunion

Don’t those hootie-tootie I-Phone users just piss you off? h/t Neatorama

more about “Cell Phone Reunion • VideoSift: Onlin…“, posted with vodpod

B’Man’s Patriot Watch: John Gebhardt

A friend copied me on an email with this picture and the text posted with it. When I first saw the picture, I didn’t read the attached text, but I knew the story. It is obvious. What we have here is a man who cares for another helpless soul and is doing what he can to help her through her tough time. That is what caring humans do.

It touches my heart because I know that this guy would do this for anyone, anywhere (not just in Iraq). And surely there are many more just like him over there that do not get any recognition. However, I cannot help but point out that if it weren’t for us illegally invading that country, causing the sectarian strife and an insurgency when there was none before us, I cannot agree with the associated text.

The text is as much propaganda, misguided or not, as it is anything else.

I can agree that this man is a “star of the war”, if such a term can be attributed, simply because he shows an American’s caring, human face… in bold contrast to the illegal invasion and disruption of the country that caused this little girl’s family to be killed and her need for this man to hold her.

You see, “America” isn’t trying to go over there and cause a child to NEED an American soldier for her comfort. That should be her mama’s job. Problem is, we went in there and fucked it all up for her and her mama.

Yes, John Gebhardt is a Patriot to me, but this war and what “America is trying to do” is no cause for celebration. Celebrate his humanity and love for that little girl. But don’t, not for a damned second, suggest that THIS is what I, as an American wants our country (and its servicemen and women) doing.

I’d rather know that John was home holding his own little girl.

John Gebhardt’s wife,  Mindy, said that this little girl’s entire family was  executed. The insurgents intended to execute the little girl  also, and shot her in the head…but they failed to kill her.  She was cared for in John’s hospital and is healing up, but  continues to cry and moan. The nurses said John is the only  one who seems to calm her down, so John has spent the last  four nights holding her while they both slept in that chair.  The girl is coming along with her healing.

He is a real Star of the war, and represents what   America is trying to do.

This,  my friends, is worth sharing. Go for it!! You’ll never see  things like this in the news. Please keep this going. Nothing  will happen if you don’t, but the American public needs to see  pictures like this and needs to realize that what we’re doing  over there is making a difference. Even if it is just one little girl.

Faux Progressives And Their Undying Support of W2

How many of you truly believe that things are changing in this country because Barack Hussein Obama was elected? I have dear friends who have fallen all over themselves in defense of Mr Obama because he “just started the job” or better yet, simply because he is NOT George W Bush.

You folks that feel this way are equivalent to the lemmings who still believe W did a good job (about 24 to 25%). Add both of those numbers up and it shows (AGAIN) that 1/2 of America is apparently clueless to the real issues and the wool being pulled over their eyes. The problem is that when there are 50% of Americans this out of touch, we are truly set up for a major fall.

You poor, gullible sheople are going to fuck up my life even more.

I want any of you to use fact (not your fuzzy-wuzzy feelings about Mr Smooth or your hatred for W) to explain to me how virtually anything of substance being done is any different than what W’s crew did?

(crickets chirping)

It is easy for me to list the things that are the same, but that isn’t good enough for you, is it? Damn, if you aren’t going to be another ignorant Sheople-like 24% who, in the face of all fact and evidence, will support Obama to the very end (instead of Bushies, you are Obamies… or better yet, Obamalies; as in anomaly).

As you are falling off the cliff you will be bitching me out for telling it like it is. Then when we splat together at the bottom, it will be too late. I will be a splattered spot on the pavement because of you ignorant-assed lemmings.

I have also had a dear friend insinuate things like Obama is just getting started and he can’t be judged yet. Oops, sorry, but that is ludicrous. That is the same mentality we had with W. Can’t you people learn from history and the big cock that was shoved up your poopy hole by the neo-cons? Have you forgotten so soon that he had a 90% approval rating BECAUSE they lied to us. BECAUSE you lemming Americans needed a “cowboy” hero.

With a 90% approval rating, there would be few that can make the claim I can make. I saw through his shit, too. I didn’t vote for him. I was very outspoken regarding the Iraq War while MOST of you were chummily cheering the Chumster along. Forgive me if I give you ZERO credibility and expect you to give me immense credibility. But I know how people are… afraid to even admit your idiocy and belief in W’s criminal activities. Even at a 90% approval rating, how many now will say they disagreed with him just to save face.

I am not fooled. And you have ZERO credibility now (I think I mentioned your inadequacy in the cred department).

Mr Obama’s approval rating is skyrocketed and even the Scar said he had been wrong because the opinion polls agreed with Barack. Jesus, strike us down now that the Scar is in agreement with O.

I wish I could get it through your fat skulls that they have played you. That you are doing precisely what they want. You are a part of the show and you don’t even know it. In spite of the facts that prove nothing substantial is changing.

Margaret Kimberly is one of my favorite bloggers and I have linked to her work on many occasions. Read what she says about the situation and what she is calling for. Now, I will bet that at least 24% (probably more) will disagree with her, but you will not be able to with fact. Just your fuzzy-wuzzies that mean nothing to me or to truth.

This is found at World Prout Assembly and you can read Margaret at her blog “Freedom Rider” and at the Black Agenda Report.

Freedom Rider: When Will We March Against Obama?

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

“The Obama administration’s position is not change. It is more of the same.”
In just three weeks, the Barack Obama administration has demonstrated its determination to hold on to the same presidential prerogatives claimed by George W. Bush. Bush’s successor evidently wants the same prerogatives and he wants to get them through by the same means. Obama supporters either don’t care or are too deep in denial to admit this now obvious fact.

The much talked about Obama administration changes in interrogation policy and intelligence gathering are nothing more than talk. Leon Panetta, CIA director nominee, made it official during his confirmation hearing.

Initially Panetta stated an incontrovertible and well documented fact, that the Bush administration kidnapped people around the world for the purpose of interrogating and torturing them. When republican Senator Kit Bond took Panetta to task for being truthful, Panetta obediently remembered his place, backtracked and told an enormous lie. “I am not aware of the validity of those claims.”

The Senate wasn’t finished with Panetta, who must have forgotten that under no circumstances was he to stand up for truth and justice. The Obama administration made a big deal about following the rules regarding prisoner treatment laid out in the Army Field Manual. Panetta was then asked/told if he would ever violate those rules if he felt he needed too. Once again, he folded and used the same rationale for torture that the Bush administration used. “If we had a ticking bomb situation, and obviously, whatever was being used I felt was not sufficient, I would not hesitate to go to the president of the United States and request whatever additional authority I would need.” A predictable plot line from stale movie thrillers is still directing official government policy instead of American and international law.

“Panetta said that renditions to third countries may continue.

Republican Senators weren’t finished showing Panetta who is boss. He ended his session reassuring the minority party members he would check to see if “enhance interrogation techniques” ever provided useful information. Panetta also said that renditions to third countries may continue. “Using renditions, we may very well direct individuals to third countries. I will seek the same kinds of assurances that they will not be treated inhumanely.” I certainly wouldn’t want to be a prisoner who got an assurance from the American government.

As Panetta disabused anyone of the notion that the two parties behave differently, a court in London, England revealed that the Bush administration and now the Obama administration threatened to withhold intelligence information if courts in that country persisted in asking questions about the treatment of Britons held in Guantanamo. The British judges were not amused. “Indeed we did not consider that a democracy governed by the rule of law would expect a court in another democracy to suppress a summary of the evidence contained in reports by its own officials … relevant to allegations of torture and cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment, politically embarrassing though it might be.”

Those judges with their fancy wigs just don’t get it. Neither Bush nor Obama cares that much about democracy. The Obama administration issued a statement saying just that. “The United States thanks the UK government for its continued commitment to protect sensitive national security information and preserve the long-standing intelligence sharing relationship that enables both countries to protect their citizens.”

The American Civil Liberties Union assessed the situation clearly. “The Obama administration’s position is not change. It is more of the same. This represents a complete turn-around and undermining of the restoration of the rule of law. The new American administration shouldn’t be complicit in hiding the abuses of its predecessors.”
“Neither Bush nor Obama cares that much about democracy.”

So, when do we march? We have an administration that has officially upheld the lawlessness of the previous administration. The same people who took to the streets or at the very least engaged in righteous indignation over Bush administration actions should not silently sit by and allow Obama to do the same things.

It isn’t too soon to protest. He told us right away that there is no change we can believe in. We don’t have to wait for bombs to fall on Iran or for more prisoners to be denied their human rights.

It is not only acceptable but imperative that we speak up now. We must say that Iran has the right to have nuclear power or nuclear weapons or satellites or anything else it wants without being threatened by the United States. We must say that the continuation of Bush administration human rights abuses will not be excused under the guise of giving Obama one hundred magical days to learn his new job.

It is time to take not only Obama to task, but faux progressives to task as well. They are the Obamites who claimed they would hold his feet to the fire if we would just shut up and let him get elected. It is time to protest against them too and call them out for being the hypocrites they are.

That means a lot of protesting needs to be done. Why waste time when Obama isn’t wasting any. We must get started now.
______________
Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com

Proof History Agrees With My Take On Marijuana… What’s Your Problem?

These interesting quotes and facts were posted at The Freedom Beat and were compiled by Robbie Gennet at The Huffington Post. I am willing to bet that most rednecks have no idea about these facts… about how it was once ILLEGAL to NOT grow hemp in the United States. How it was (and still is) America’s number 1 cash crop and at one time was grown by many of our founding fathers and actually smoked by Abe Lincoln.

But Jesus Christ, we all have been told how bad it is for us, right?

They lied to you. Just like the lie to you about virtually everything.

Read and enjoy and realize how incredibly ignorant our marijuana laws are and just how far George Washington (and his wife Martha) have rolled around in their graves over this idiocy.

Pot Quotes and Facts

“Two of my favorite things are sitting on my front porch smoking a pipe of sweet hemp, and playing my Hohner harmonica.” – Abraham Lincoln (from a letter written by Lincoln during his presidency to the head of the Hohner Harmonica Company in Germany)

“Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth & protection of the country.” – Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President

“Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere.” – George Washington, U.S. President

“We shall, by and by, want a world of hemp more for our own consumption.” – John Adams, U.S. President

“Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marihuana in private for personal use… Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marihuana.” – Jimmy Carter, U.S. President

“I inhaled frequently. That was the point.” – Barack Obama, U.S. President

“The war on drugs has been an utter failure. We need to rethink and decriminalize our nation’s marijuana laws.” -Barack Obama, January 2004

“The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.” – Carl Sagan, renown scientist, astronomer, astrochemist, author and TV host

“Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?” – Henry Ford, whose first Model-T was constructed from hemp fibers and built to run on hemp gasoline

“Prohibition. . . goes beyond the bound of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded” -Abraham Lincoln

“The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.” – Albert Einstein quote on Hemp

“That is not a drug. It’s a leaf.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California

“I now have absolute proof that smoking even one marijuana cigarette is equal in brain damage to being on Bikini Island during an H-bomb blast” – Ronald Reagan

“If the words ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ don’t include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn’t worth the hemp it was written on.” – Terence McKenna

[]

The first Bibles, maps, charts, Betsy Ross’s flag, the first drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were made from hemp.

80% of all textiles, fabrics, clothes, linen, drapes, bed sheets, etc. were made from hemp until the 1820s with the introduction of the cotton gin.

It was legal to pay taxes with Hemp in America from 1631 until the early 1800s.

Refusing to grow Hemp in America during the 17th and 18th Centuries was against the law. You could be jailed in Virginia for refusing to grow hemp from 1763 to 1769.

Rembrants, Gainsboroughs, Van Goghs as well as most early canvas paintings were principally painted on hemp linen.

In 1916, the U.S. Government Dept. of Agriculture predicted that by the 1940s all paper would come from hemp and that no more trees need to be cut down.

For thousands of years, 90% of all ships’ sails and rope were made from hemp. The word ‘canvas’ is Dutch for cannabis.

Hemp fuel is non-toxic, biodegradable and does not contribute to sulfur dioxide air poisoning.

In Feb. 1938, Popular Mechanics called Hemp a ‘Billion Dollar Crop.’ It was the first time a cash crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars.

WTF Thursday: Planes or Bombs? Make Up Your Mind

I think that anyone that was paying attention on that deadly day immediately thought that some sort of bombs were used when the buildings came down. It looked just like every Las Vegas implosion I had ever seen and the fact is that before that day and since, there has never been a building collapse like that due to fires.

So, when people shrug me off when I question the details, I don’t understand how they can just agree with what seems dubious, or at the very least, suspicious. I have studied enough detail to convince me that it wasn’t the planes that brought down any of those buildings at World Trade Center Plaza. And, according to this list and newer revelations, maybe you should reconsider.

And when you do, remember that we are in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq because of that fateful day. What If our government had something to do with it? Is that worth exploring and investigating to the fullest?

Or am I just a commie-liberal-socialist-conspiracy-terrorist?

From George Washington’s Blog (h/t DeProgram)

On 9/11, the FBI believed that bombs were involved in the attacks.

How do I know that?

Because, according to the FBI’s website:

Following the massive terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, the FBI dedicated 7,000 of its 11,000 Special Agents and thousands of FBI support personnel to the PENTTBOM investigation. “PENTTBOM” is short for Pentagon, Twin Towers Bombing.

(see also this and this).

Indeed, the FBI told a reporter for USA Today that FBI agents believed there were bombs in the Twin Towers.

Similarly, the Washington Post believed that bombs were involved, as reflected in a September 21, 2001 article containing the following phrase:

In the hours after Tuesday’s bombings . . . .

Many firefighters and policemen also said there were bombs in the Twin Towers.

And perhaps “the premiere collapse expert in the country”, who 9/11 Commissioner Timothy Roemer referred to as a “very, very respected expert on building collapse”, the head of the New York Fire Department’s Special Operations Command and the most highly decorated firefighter in its NYFD history, who had previously “commanded rescue operations at many difficult and complex disasters, including the Oklahoma City Bombing, the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, and many natural disasters worldwide” thought that the collapse of the South Tower was caused by bombs, because the collapse of the building was too even to have been caused by anything else (pages 5-6).

But surely experts have since proven that no bombs were involved. Right?

In fact, structural engineers, architects, scientists and demolition experts and other high-level experts have examined the evidence and think that there were bombs.

Even the former head of the Fire Science Division of the government agency which claims that the World Trade Centers collapsed due to fire, who is one of the world’s leading fire science researchers and safety engineers, a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering (Dr. James Quintiere) doesn’t bevelieve an adequate investigation into 9/11 has been conducted. He has called for an independent review of the World Trade Center Twin Tower collapse investigation. “I wish that there would be a peer review of this,” he said, referring to the NIST investigation. “I think all the records that NIST has assembled should be archived. I would really like to see someone else take a look at what they’ve done; both structurally and from a fire point of view. … I think the official conclusion that NIST arrived at is questionable.”

B’Man’s Hypocrite Watch: Statute of Limitations

Can You Spell Hypocrisy?

It is but for the Statute of Limitations that Mr Barack Hussein Obama is not getting the shit for the same thing. (h/t Not Another Conspiracy) Aren’t there any sheriffs’ worth their weight in pigshit ready to go after another worthless pothead?

Richland County, SC Sheriff Leon Lott: Penis Top and Media Clown

Richland County, SC Sheriff Penis Top

I had a Company Commander in boot camp (Drill Instructor for non-squids). He was “politically correct” because he would never call his recruits a “dickhead” (like all the other CC’s). He called us Richard Noggin’s (hence my Saturday regular feature) or Penis Tops. To me, being called a Penis Top was worse than the rest, for some reason, so I hold out using the term until I see a real, down and dirty, Dick Head of immense proportions and will whip the moniker out occasionally.

The man above is a sheriff in Richland County, SC. You can tell by his ego-driven smirk-like appearance that being a dickhead is nothing new to the man. Sorta looks (to me) like the type of cop who gets his jollies beating the shit out of someone, but maybe its the shit-eating smirk that is fooling me.

As I have said a thousand times, “Actions speak louder than words” (or looks, for that matter). This Penis Top’s actions are evidently a ploy to get media attention by preying off of Michael Phelps persona and celebrity.

I wrote him this morning and want to include the note I wrote and I ask that if you care to call a dickhead a dickhead (or penis top, Richard Noggin, whatever), please do. You can reach the Media Clown here:

5623 Two Notch Road
Columbia, South Carolina 29223
(803) 576-3000 phone (803) 576-3195 fax
sheriff@rcsd.net

But before I list my letter and further info, let me list what “The Free Dictionary” describes as a “dickhead’s” meaning:

dick-head

n. Vulgar Slang

An inept, foolish, or contemptible person.

It lists several synonyms in its linked thesaurus that may help you understand the real depth of what this means:

mother fucker, motherfucker, prick, asshole, bastard, son of a bitch, whoreson, cocksucker, SOB, shit

Get the picture?

My letter:

Sheriff Lott,

I have a long history in law enforcement (many of my family have served in various police positions) and I have never written a serving law enforcement officer in my 47 years to complain, but in the case of Michael Phelps and his “gang” as is reported in media, I must ask the question, “Does your office have nothing better to do than this?”

Really?

Your actions are ludicrous and are simply a way to gain notoriety in the media. You should be ashamed of your self and for your family. You have gained the recognition at my blog (and others much more visual) that you deserve. And I hope America and the world sees how unprofessional a redneck sheriff can be. I also hope that the citizens of your county wake up to your media hounding and vote you out of office as fast as possible.

Disgustingly,

Real Name (BuelahMan)

After reading your bio, I am sure those at your Baptist church are overjoyed by the media attention you will bring them, not to mention all the citizens in your county reaching out to explain what a fine bout of law enforcement you conducted here. I am quite sure that your investigative abilities are the reason you were so successful in this HUGE bust. I’m slightly surprised that the “tank” wasn’t broken out for this major law enforcement bust.

However, this redneck from TN does not agree and although I can’t vote for or against you in the next election, I can make damn sure everyone I can reach will know what an asshole you really are and that being a media hound or clown is basically the height of your career.

Richland County Folks, please say goodbye to Mr Noggin’ next election. Its what he and YOU deserve.

From Jonathon Turley:

The Phelps Eight: Richland County Rounds Up Bong Buddies of Olympic Swimmer

Word to the wise, don’t smoke dope with celebrities in Richland County, South Carolina. Media reports indicate that the Sheriff’s Department have arrested eight people in connection to the controversy. It would also indicate that criminal charges are being contemplated against Phelps since such arrests are often useful in coercing cooperation from witnesses.

It appears that seven arrests are for drug possession and one for distribution.

It is hard to feel sorry for one of the arrestees who was nabbed when he tried to sell his bong on eBay for as much as $100,000. Yet, it is notably that he was not at the party but was still charged.

For those around the world who view our criminalization of pot as insane, this will likely reaffirm and magnify that view. Surely, the good Sheriff of Richland County has something better to do than chase down bong buddies. The appearance left is not just an over-reaction to a minor crime but a celebrity driven investigation.

For the full story, click here.

To prove what an ignorant Penis Top this man is, a simple Google search finds all sorts of crazy shit. In a March 2008 interview he said (after acquiring a 50 Caliber belt-fed machine gun tank:

Penis Top Shows Off His Tank

The Richland County (S.C.) Sheriff’s Department has acquired an armored personnel carrier complete with a turret-mounted .50-caliber belt-fed machine gun for its Special Response Team.

Sheriff Leon Lott told the Columbia State newspaper that he hoped the vehicle, named “The Peacemaker,” would let the bad guys know that his officers are serious.

“We don’t look at this as a killing machine,” Lott told the paper. “It’s going to keep the peace. We hope the fact that we have this is going to save lives. When something like this rolls up, it’s time to give up.”

I don’t know about you, but does any redneck really believe there are enough “bad guys” in their redneck county to NEED a 50 Cal machine gun to use against its citizens? Really? Are you that insane or a fucking gun nut extraordinaire? Also, does anyone notice what a pompous prick picture this guy takes. This picture is proof positive that he is a media clown. Its not scaring or intimidating, it makes you look like a fool, Leon.

He needs to go, SC.

Centrism is For Chumps

… and the biggest Chump Is Barack Obama. But he is surrounded by them. And they are screwing us all.

And I have some news for you, you “centrist” idiots. We aren’t supporting you centrist move, anymore. Don’t you get it? We are sick of it. We want REAL change. We don’t want to kowtow to conservative ideologies when it has been those very ideologies that have sunk us. Do you thing we are all as stupid and gullible as you are?

I’m getting sick and tired of the sad “centrist” theory of Mr Obama, too. Besides the fact I think it is a hoax to fool the American Sheoples into falling for the “hope” of “change”, what we need is for him to truly push progressive moves. We have had way too long of conservative rule and it has virtually sunk our beautiful ship of State. This includes Clinton, the “centrist” president who was truly a republican Lite in the mold of HW.

We haven’t had a progressive individual running this country in a very long time. Much less liberal.

Well, let me tell you about this proud old progressive redneck “Liberal”. I am a liberal and I am proud of the fact. I am proud that my liberal views have been correct and the conservative views (especially neo-conservatism) has been plainly put to its sad defeat, soundly. They are just wrong and bogus. I believe in helping people, especially Americans with American Tax dollars. I do NOT support unending wars and lies to get us there. I would venture to say that most of this country agrees with me. But a “Centrist” won’t. A Centrist will fall all over themselves to try and please the most aggressive assholes on the “other side” who are only trying to protect their party… not me.

Centrism is a political game… a manuever to try and win over votes from an opposing political party, but necessarily a competing political ideology. In other words, centrists can be centrists just to be different. It is not for the best interest of the country, but for the show.

And don’t give me any conservative lip. You have been wrong and you sidled up with a movement that destroyed the real conservatives and their ideology. What you have become, Mr Conservative, is a joke that isn’t funny. Circling your wagons to defend against the most stupid rationale in every aspect of government and world aggression. Doing anything to stop progressive policies from taking place. Trying, desperately, to prove that your failed and ignorant ideology is still meaningful and pertinent.

It isn’t. Get over it and move on to the soup lines, you worthless pieces of shit.

The fact is that today’s “conservatives” are blind, lemming-like, fools. Following their leaders over the cliff and screaming all the way down. If you can’t see that your objects of wonder and worship are evil idiots, it is too late for you, as well. Please jump the cliff, so we won’t have to deal with your stupidity, anymore, either.

I laugh at your folly and spit on your demise.

Good riddance and I hope that the Newts, Bushes, Cheney’s, et al, drop dead as soon as hunamnly possible and that those who step into their places have some semblance of a thought process going on (in this, I know not to hold my breath). Until then, allow one of the leading economists, a Nobel Proze winner, at that, explain how Centrism will cost us… and cost us big.

I keep telling you a Depression of immense proportions is heading this way. By Obama’s centrism (and the centristic ideology of the many congressional leaders) he will help usher it in even quicker. Read Paul Krugman’s letter (originally at The NY Times and reposted at Alternet).

Progressives and Liberals: Grow some balls, dammit. You are embarrassing me, a real progressive and liberal.

Call Yourself a “Centrist” and Magically Get Away with Selling out the American People

By Paul Krugman, The New York Times

What do you call someone who eliminates hundreds of thousands of American jobs, deprives millions of adequate health care and nutrition, undermines schools, but offers a $15,000 bonus to affluent people who flip their houses?

A proud centrist. For that is what the senators who ended up calling the tune on the stimulus bill just accomplished.

Even if the original Obama plan — around $800 billion in stimulus, with a substantial fraction of that total given over to ineffective tax cuts — had been enacted, it wouldn’t have been enough to fill the looming hole in the U.S. economy, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will amount to $2.9 trillion over the next three years.

Yet the centrists did their best to make the plan weaker and worse.

One of the best features of the original plan was aid to cash-strapped state governments, which would have provided a quick boost to the economy while preserving essential services. But the centrists insisted on a $40 billion cut in that spending.

The original plan also included badly needed spending on school construction; $16 billion of that spending was cut. It included aid to the unemployed, especially help in maintaining health care — cut. Food stamps — cut. All in all, more than $80 billion was cut from the plan, with the great bulk of those cuts falling on precisely the measures that would do the most to reduce the depth and pain of this slump.

On the other hand, the centrists were apparently just fine with one of the worst provisions in the Senate bill, a tax credit for home buyers. Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Policy Research calls this the “flip your house to your brother” provision: it will cost a lot of money while doing nothing to help the economy.

All in all, the centrists’ insistence on comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted will, if reflected in the final bill, lead to substantially lower employment and substantially more suffering.

But how did this happen? I blame President Obama’s belief that he can transcend the partisan divide — a belief that warped his economic strategy.

After all, many people expected Mr. Obama to come out with a really strong stimulus plan, reflecting both the economy’s dire straits and his own electoral mandate.

Instead, however, he offered a plan that was clearly both too small and too heavily reliant on tax cuts. Why? Because he wanted the plan to have broad bipartisan support, and believed that it would. Not long ago administration strategists were talking about getting 80 or more votes in the Senate.

Mr. Obama’s postpartisan yearnings may also explain why he didn’t do something crucially important: speak forcefully about how government spending can help support the economy. Instead, he let conservatives define the debate, waiting until late last week before finally saying what needed to be said — that increasing spending is the whole point of the plan.

And Mr. Obama got nothing in return for his bipartisan outreach. Not one Republican voted for the House version of the stimulus plan, which was, by the way, better focused than the original administration proposal.

In the Senate, Republicans inveighed against “pork” — although the wasteful spending they claimed to have identified (much of it was fully justified) was a trivial share of the bill’s total. And they decried the bill’s cost — even as 36 out of 41 Republican senators voted to replace the Obama plan with $3 trillion, that’s right, $3 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years.

So Mr. Obama was reduced to bargaining for the votes of those centrists. And the centrists, predictably, extracted a pound of flesh — not, as far as anyone can tell, based on any coherent economic argument, but simply to demonstrate their centrist mojo. They probably would have demanded that $100 billion or so be cut from anything Mr. Obama proposed; by coming in with such a low initial bid, the president guaranteed that the final deal would be much too small.

Such are the perils of negotiating with yourself.

Now, House and Senate negotiators have to reconcile their versions of the stimulus, and it’s possible that the final bill will undo the centrists’ worst. And Mr. Obama may be able to come back for a second round. But this was his best chance to get decisive action, and it fell short.

So has Mr. Obama learned from this experience? Early indications aren’t good.

For rather than acknowledge the failure of his political strategy and the damage to his economic strategy, the president tried to put a postpartisan happy face on the whole thing. “Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands,” he declared on Saturday, and “the scale and scope of this plan is right.”

No, they didn’t, and no, it isn’t.

© 2008 The New York Times

Travelling again today. Limited posting.

Who Is This Barry Hussein Obama-Soetoro, Really?

I have wondered out loud how someone with just 4 years of real political experience can make it to the top as he did without assistance from “up high”. The fact that he was selected as the opening speaker for that Democratic convention with immediate peanut gallery claims of a “future president”, etc just made me feel uncomfortable. He was still figuratively “wet behind the ears” politically, yet he was being touted as a future President.

I am obviously suspicious of any and all politicians, especially US Senators. They, by and large, are owned by Big Money. This is so simple to prove by following the money trail of their donors compared to how they vote. If this were a cheap detective film, anyone watching could tell you who was guilty in the first 5 minutes, but somehow they go unscathed in most instances. Even the most repulsive and crooked are protected to some extent (far more than you or I would ever get). It is because they are all owned and could spill the beans, so they are too protected by coercion. Once tainted, always tainted and most are, most definitely, tainted. Full of massive taintness.

I can’t count the times that I have said that Barack Obama is owned by Big Money and The Elite have appointed him as POTUS. So far, I haven’t been able to “connect the dots”, but after reading this article at UNDERNEWS this thing is truly starting to form into a solid picture. Is it all true? I don’t know, but my bet is that many questions will never get answered. This is too close to the bone.

THE STRANGE RISE OF OBAMA

Bill Blum, Anti-Empire Report – The question that may never go away: Who really is Barack Obama? In his autobiography, “Dreams From My Fathers”, Barack Obama writes of taking a job at some point after graduating from Columbia University in 1983. He describes his employer as “a consulting house to multinational corporations” in New York City, and his functions as a “research assistant” and “financial writer.” The odd part of Obama’s story is that he doesn’t mention the name of his employer.

However, a New York Times story of 2007 identifies the company as Business International Corporation. Equally odd is that the Times did not remind its readers that the newspaper itself had disclosed in 1977 that Business International had provided cover for four CIA employees in various countries between 1955 and 1960. The British journal, Lobster Magazine — which, despite its incongruous name, is a venerable international publication on intelligence matters — has reported that Business International was active in the 1980s promoting the candidacy of Washington-favored candidates in Australia and Fiji. In 1987, the CIA overthrew the Fiji government after but one month in office because of its policy of maintaining the island as a nuclear-free zone, meaning that American nuclear-powered or nuclear-weapons-carrying ships could not make port calls. After the Fiji coup, the candidate supported by Business International, who was much more amenable to Washington’s nuclear desires, was reinstated to power.

In his book, not only doesn’t Obama mention his employer’s name; he fails to say when he worked there, or why he left the job. There may well be no significance to these omissions, but inasmuch as Business International has a long association with the world of intelligence, covert actions, and attempts to penetrate the radical left — including Students for a Democratic Society — it’s valid to wonder if the inscrutable Mr. Obama is concealing something about his own association with this world.

Colony Net, 2008 - In an effort to shore up his foreign policy credentials during the primary campaign, the junior senator from Illinois – then in a tight primary contest with Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania – bragged about the time he had spent in Pakistan. He argued that Clinton’s foreign policy experience consisted only of quick photo ops, while he had spent quality time with real people. Not only that, he had actually gone on a partridge-hunting trip near the Pakistan city of Larkana. His partridge-hunting apparently impressed the gun owners of Pennsylvania very little, inasmuch as Clinton won that primary by 10 per cent.

Eager to impress the Pennsylvania crowd with his foreign policy experience and knowledge of guns, Obama thus let slip the fact that he had been to Pakistan. (It is believed that he made two trips to Pakistan.) There must have been more to that trip than meets the eye, however, because the candidate has said virtually nothing about it since. You won’t find anything on the Obama campaign site. . .

Astute readers may have begun to wonder how a struggling young college student with a divorced, middle-class mother managed to fund a three week trip to Pakistan. . . But Barry Obama-Soetoro was off shooting partridges in Pakistan, hosted by a young man named Muhammed Hasan Chandio. Chandio’s family owned a substantial amount of land in the region, and Obama apparently met him while both were students. (Chandio is currently a financial consultant in New York, and a donor to the Obama campaign.). . .

Another of Obama’s hosts in Pakistan was Muhammadian Mian Soomro, Obama’s senior by about 11 years, son of a Pakistani politician and himself a politician, who became interim President of Pakistan when Pervez Musharraf resigned in August of 2008. Soomro has said that “someone” personally requested that he “watch over” Barack Obama, but will not name that individual . . .

A trip to Pakistan is no doubt more than a jaunt to a Florida beach. Few Americans would consider traveling there now, thinking it to be a dangerous place. In 1981, when one of Obama’s possible two trips there occurred, it was less safe. Because of the war between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, millions of Afghan refugees fled to Pakistan, which was under martial law. The Afghan mujahedeen fighters had bases in Pakistan, and they moved back and forth to fight the Soviets. . .

In the early 1980s, Pakistan was one of the destinations Americans were prohibited from visiting – it was on the State Department’s list of banned countries. Non-Muslims were not welcome, unless they were on official business, formalized through the embassy of the country of origin. The simple truth is that no young American would have a reason to or be able to visit Pakistan in 1981, unless he was on official government business of which the State Department was aware. . .

Adding to the mix is the fact that Ann Dunham, Obama’s mother, had visited at least 13 countries in her lifetime, and had worked for companies that required travel to Pakistan. Her employers appear to have included the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation, Women’s World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. Note that USAID and the Ford Foundation have (allegedly) been used as covers for CIA agents. . . .

The story of Business International also includes its 1960s joint meetings with members of SDS at the prodding of Carl Oglesby. Not everyone was happy at the idea – including Bernadette Dorn – and probably for good cause.

Obama also was one of eight students selected to study sovietology by Columbia professor Zbigniew Brzezinski who, if he wasn’t a CIA official, was as close as you can otherwise get. Brzesinski is now a member of Obama’s inner circle.

If the Obama Pakistan story sounds somewhat familiar, it may because the Review was one of the few places that reported one of Bill Clinton’s similarly interesting trips:

“1960s: Bill Clinton, according to several agency sources interviewed by biographer Roger Morris, works as a CIA informer while briefly and erratically a Rhodes Scholar in England. Although without visible means of support, he travels around Europe and the Soviet Union, staying at the ritziest hotel in Moscow. During this period the US government is using well educated assets such as Clinton as part of Operation Chaos, a major attempt to break student resistance to the war and the draft. According to former White House FBI agent Gary Aldrich Clinton is told by Oxford officials that he is no longer welcome there.”

B’Man’s Patriot Watch: Harry Markopolos and Congressman Gary Ackerman

Wow. Simply, WOW! Calling it like it is, is my style and these two have done it.

“too slow, too young and too undereducated”, “You couldn’t find your backside with two hands if the lights were on… You have totally and thoroughly failed in your mission”, “We thought the enemy was Mr. Madoff, I think it was you. You were the shield”

“Harsh Words”, indeed (via Reuters UK):

SEC pummelled as Madoff whistleblower testifies

By Rachelle Younglai and Karey Wutkowski

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Harry Markopolos, a former investment manager who tried to warn U.S. regulators about Bernard Madoff, joined lawmakers in blasting the Securities and Exchange Commission but said he was forwarding more tips to the agency.

Markopolos told a congressional hearing on Wednesday that SEC staff were neither willing nor able to uncover what Madoff, arrested in December and charged with a record-shattering $50-billion fraud, was really doing.

Calling SEC staff “too slow, too young and too undereducated,” Markopolos said the regulator was hindered by lawyers, did not understand red flags, could not do the math and was captive to the financial industry.

“They looked at the size of Madoff and said he’s a big firm and we don’t attack big firms,” said Markopolos, who became aware of Madoff when the firm he worked for tried to pursue the same kind of strategy Madoff did but never got the same steady, strong returns.

Members of the House Financial Services subcommittee hailed Markopolos but excoriated five SEC officials who declined to answer specific questions about the Madoff case, citing ongoing investigations.

“You couldn’t find your backside with two hands if the lights were on… You have totally and thoroughly failed in your mission,” said New York Democratic Rep. Gary Ackerman,

Markopolos said he knows the names of a dozen so-called feeder funds that helped Madoff raise money from pension funds and wealthy investors and that he would turn these over to regulators this week.

Markopolos, now a fraud investigator, said Madoff could not have acted alone, citing accountants and people helping convey money to his scheme. Madoff was arrested after his sons went to authorities saying their father had confessed to them.

LOW POINT FOR THE SEC

Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, has been accused of running a massive Ponzi scheme in which he paid off earlier investors with money from later investors.

Asked if there were other Madoffs waiting to be discovered, Markopolos said he was forwarding information to the SEC about a Ponzi scheme of around $1 billion.

For the SEC, Wednesday’s testimony marked what some insiders called the worst day in the agency’s history, further tarnishing its reputation and sending morale to a new low.

Lawmakers angrily questioned the SEC’s head of enforcement, Linda Chatman Thomsen; the agency’s top examiner Lori Richards; Erik Sirri, the SEC’s trading and markets chief; Andrew Donohue, who is in charge of investment management and the SEC’s acting general counsel, Andrew Vollmer.

Capital markets subcommittee chairman, Paul Kanjorski, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, threatened to reform the SEC out of existence.

And Ackerman, who personally escorted Markopolos out of the hearing room, told the SEC officials: “We thought the enemy was Mr. Madoff, I think it was you. You were the shield,”

Markopolos described his failed efforts to get regulators to probe Madoff from 2000 on. “I gift-wrapped and delivered the largest Ponzi scheme to them,” he told the lawmakers.

Markopolos became suspicious of Madoff’s ways in 1996 after he and a friend pored over mathematical models that might recreate Madoff’s returns only to determine that there was no way Madoff could consistently outperform the markets.

HARSH WORDS

Harsh words were lobbed at former SEC employees including Meaghan Cheung, the agency’s New York branch chief whom Markopolos contacted in 2005. Cheung, Markopolos said, was arrogant, never grasped the concepts in his report or asked him any questions. Cheung left the SEC in fall of 2008.

The SEC division heads told the panel that the agency was considering a number of changes in light of the Madoff case, including how frequently investment advisers are examined.

Thomsen, who appeared visibly shaken during the hearing, responded to charges that her enforcement division had too many lawyers. “Within enforcement we have lots of accountants, lots of market specialists and investigators.”

Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus, of Alabama, was the only lawmaker who praised the agency. “We don’t mean to convey that there hasn’t been good work by the SEC,” he said at the end of the hearing.

Kanjorski said he was going to introduce legislation that would give the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the authority to examine the auditors of broker-dealers.

Madoff’s auditor was a small, unknown firm that was not registered with the PCAOB.

(Additional reporting by John Poirier in Washington and Svea Herbst Bayliss in Boston; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

more about “Dailymotion – Madoff Whistle Blower, …“, posted with vodpod

Will Dance For Food

more about “MEGAVIDEO – I’m watching it“, posted with vodpod

Depressions Are Depressing

So much so that many normally sane and thinking people are refusing to admit how bad our economic situation really is. Yeah, I’m the “gloom and doom” guy (as Mr Z and my co-worker called me) when I explain the situation from my learned perspective (for the more I dig, the more I realize they aren’t studying the subject any more than the cursory glance at TV or on the radio).

The MSM will not give you the whole truth, unless it can bolster their ratings and their ownership’s agenda.

Not only have I sought and studied the individuals (Krugman, Schiff and others) and publications who have been correct, avoiding the idiocy of the Jim Cramers, but in my work (as I have explained incessantly here), I see the indicators every day in my travels. The people I sell to are having very difficult times and the machine builders/automation houses are basically thriving off of maintenance and small investment applications.

Very few big jobs.

We keep hearing that unemployment is around 7%, but this is a fudged, bogus number. Many people are working part time for meager wages or cannot find a job and eventually are culled from the list even though they aren’t working. But even with fudged numbers, some economists are projecting a 10% or greater unemployment within the next year. In real numbers, this may be closer to 15%. It could go much higher.

ThinkProgress posted this picture and info regarding the subject:

The current recession that the United States economy finds itself in is, by far, dramatically worse than the recessions of 1990-91 and 2001. How much worse? The economy has lost 3.6 million jobs in the last 13 months. The Gavel compares these numbers to the two most recent recessions:

I have been “arguing” (for a lack of a better description) with friends about how bad things truly are. Most say that this is just normal fluctuations in business and the cycle will come back.

But, the argument is that with the credit issues and massive job losses (which we are only beginning to see the depth of) and the upcoming massive defaults on prime loans (business and personal) will further degrade the faith in our economy and the perpetual motion will continue until the ship either rights herself with massive losses or we go for total devastation.

This is NOT business as usual.

And just to let you in on a little secret, these bailouts will only protect the rich and make us poor folks indebted forever.

It will be a miracle of massive proportions if we weather this without a true Depression that makes the 30′s pale in comparison. I know you don’t want to hear it, but there it is…

Allow SubMedia TV to enlighten your ass (graphic language):

more about “Worldwide Slave Revolts! at subMedia“, posted with vodpod

Richard Noggin’ Saturday: Kellogg’s

So the kid burned a little weed in a bong and Kellogg’s gets its panties in a wad and decides their best action is to stop their endorsement with Michael Phelps. They believe they are protecting their image, but what Kellogg’s is actually doing is causing the wrath of BuelahMan to point out their Dick-Headishness and the hypocrisy behind their latest statement (which I hope will instigate an outcry to boycott and call them to tell them why).

The hypocrisy comes when Kellogg’s didn’t bat an eye when Mr Phelps was caught drinking and driving (nor do I believe he should have lost his endorsements for that), yet they QUICKLY unendorse his ass when he smokes a little?

I call bullshit, Kellogg’s. And what that means to you is that this house will not buy any of your stinking assed products until you re-endorse young Mr Phelps and apologize for your actions.

Hypocrites make me wretch. Hypocrites who make cereal, should not be allowed to make people wretch.

Bruce Mirken, at Alternet points out:

Let’s get real here. If Phelps had been photographed hoisting a Budweiser, no one would have said a word. But there is simply no question that if one wants to relax with a mood-altering substance, marijuana is far safer than alcohol.

Alcohol is more addictive. According to the Institute of Medicine, 15 percent of those who ever drink become dependent on alcohol. The figure for marijuana is just 9 percent (for tobacco, by the way, it’s 32 percent).

Alcohol is massively more toxic. Every year, people die from alcohol overdoses (too often in college drinking parties and the like). And the chronic effects of heavy alcohol use — e.g. liver damage — kill thousands upon thousands more. There has never been a medically documented marijuana overdose, and the chronic effects of even heavy marijuana use are relatively mild and decidedly nonlethal.

And unlike marijuana, alcohol tends to make users reckless, aggressive and violent. A review in the journal Addictive Behaviors explained, “Alcohol is clearly the drug with the most evidence to support a direct intoxication-violence relationship. … Cannabis reduces the likelihood of violence during intoxication…”

Yes, rednecks, even though you have spent your entire life being told how horrific marijuana is, in comparison to alcohol (that blessed Budweiser), it is many times safer for you and others. Period. No debate. End of story.

This is where you rednecks need some edumacation. Stop listening to the damned people that keep you locked in your ignorant world. Open your minds to real data. The government sponsored TV commercials are full of shit. Everything to do with the War on Drugs is Full of Shit.

Its the hypocrisy, folks. And your ignorance to that hypocrisy needs to be addressed.

Bruce adds:

People are already talking about a boycott of Kellogg’s, while others are urging folks to contact the company and complain. I don’t know if a boycott will work — they’re difficult to pull off, and most don’t succeed. But I do know that there are plenty of other breakfast-cereal makers that haven’t indulged in such stupidity and hypocrisy, and they will be getting my business for a while.

Well, Mr Mirken, this redneck (and hopefully any readers that happen along) will try. There is not a single thing that Kellogg’s makes that I MUST have. As for that matter, there are enough alternative sources that make virtually the same stuff, packaged differently and likely less cost. My boycotting of YouTube and WalMart are much harder than this boycott and so far, I am successful.

And think of this. If enough people stopped buying their garbage for just two weeks, I bet you my asshole that they will renege their stupid action.

Thing is that Americans don’t have the balls to pull it off. They gotta have their Rice Krispies. Well, as far as Kellogg’s goes, Snap, Crackle and Fuck them.

There is a plan you can follow. A very easy plan, at that. Ethan Nadelmann at The Drug Policy Alliance has this to add and gives the number to call (h/t The Huffington Post):

… My organization, the Drug Policy Alliance, is working — starting now — to send Kellogg’s this message, and we’re joining with others as well. More than seventy percent of Americans say that marijuana should be decriminalized and that no one should go to jail. We agree. In fact, the residents of Kellogg’s home state of Michigan recently passed, by an overwhelming margin, a ballot initiative legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. We also think that arresting almost 800,000 Americans each year for possessing a little marijuana is both a stupid waste and diversion of police resources as well as a cruel intrusion into the lives of ordinary Americans. And we’re sick and tired of the public outings, and forced apologies and recantations, which perpetuate this shameless hypocrisy.

So let’s send Kellogg’s a message! Criminal laws and corporate drug testing successfully deter millions of Americans from openly identifying as responsible citizens who happen to smoke marijuana. But a “Call Kellogg’s Campaign” that lets the corporation know that their dumping Phelps is good reason for us to dump Kellogg might just make the point that more and more Americans are sick and tired of this particular spectacle.

Just say No to Kellogg’s. Call them at 800-962-1413 and 269-961-3799 to tell them what you think

Do Mr Phelps and the entire country a favor. Call these assholes and tell them like it really is.

Kidney Cootch

Generally weird and amazing, I didn’t realize that things like this were meant to come from this orifice (h/t Daily Rotten):

Surgeons remove healthy kidney through donor’s vagina

(CNN) — In what is being heralded as a “first-ever procedure,” surgeons removed a healthy kidney through a donor’s vagina, the Johns Hopkins Medical Center has announced.

Although the procedure has been previously done to extract cancerous and nonfunctioning kidneys that threatened a patient’s health, the January 29 surgery was the first time it was done for donation purposes, the center said in a news release issued Monday.

“The kidney was successfully removed and transplanted into the donor’s niece, and both patients are doing fine,” Dr. Robert Montgomery, chief of transplant surgery at Johns Hopkins, said in the release…

(cont here at CNN)