The Invisible Vancouver Drug War

They are being asked to keep this hush-hush. Don’t let the world know that the Drug War might cause problems for the 2010 Olympics… that machine gun armed gangs are taking over Vancouver. Its one thing to label those little brown people to the south as uncouth criminals who can’t stop themselves from trafficking drugs across the border, but to consider those white people up north in the same manner would be totally unacceptable, wouldn’t it?

When will we learn that prohibition does not work? Will it be when 35%, or 50% of Americans are jailed for non-offensive acts of possession? We have 5% of the world’s population, but have 25% of the world’s imprisoned. Are we really that immoral a nation, although “Christian”, that we have more bad folks than any other place in the world?

I wonder if we will learn when the law holds all those drug addled assholes like Rush Limbaugh accountable in the same light, for in his “arrest”, he was certainly given the kid glove treatment.

But this war isn’t about illegally obtained Hillbilly Heroin, it is about the BC Bud that can anesthetize you with one hit. What they call that “one hit shit” (I’m still looking for that stuff Carlin described in Toledo Window Box that was “no -poke shit”. None of that “one-poke shit, two-poke shit”:)

“Just cop, leave it at home and stay high… knowing its in the closet”

h/t Daily Rotten

From heaven to hell: 18 die as drugs war rages on streets of Vancouver

The Canadian city has been named the best place in the world to live. But those halcyon days are over

By Paul Rodgers

Sunday, 5 April 2009

Once upon a very recent time, Vancouver had a clean, safe image. Nestled between a spectacular bay and snow-capped mountains, this Canadian city, which is twice the size of Birmingham, was described by The Economist as the most liveable in the world. Not any more. As it prepares to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, what it’s got now is not cuddly, eco-friendly publicity, but blood-spattered streets littered with shell casings and corpses.

Vancouver is the battlefield in a war between myriad drug gangs, which include Hell’s Angels, Big Circle Boys, United Nations, Red Scorpions, Independent Soldiers and the 14K Triad. Guns – often machineguns – are fired almost daily. “We’ve always been told by media experts to never admit that there is a gang war,” the chief of police, Jim Chu, said last month. “Let’s get serious. There is a gang war and it’s brutal.” Vancouver’s Mayor, Gregor Robertson, confessed that the police are fighting a losing battle. Since mid-January, the city has recorded 50 gang-related shootings, 18 of them fatal. And the violence is not confined to seedy neighbourhoods. The cross-fire is happening in quiet, residential cul-de-sacs and the car parks of up-scale shopping centres. It’s a suburban civil war.

Nor are hardened criminals the only victims. An attack on one gangster’s car killed a 24-year-old man hired to fit it with a new stereo. In February, Nicole Alemy, 23, the wife of another gangster, was gunned down in her white Cadillac – with her four-year-old son in the back seat. On Friday, police arrested James Bacon – one of three brothers who left the United Nations gang to join the Red Scorpions, intensifying the rivalry between the two – for conspiring in the deaths of four gangsters in their flat in Surrey, south-east of Vancouver. Two innocent men were forced from the hallway into the flat and also killed. Police said they intend to make more arrests over the weekend.

As Vancouver has boomed over the past two decades, attracting wealthy immigrants from across Canada and the Pacific, so too has the illegal drugs trade. It is now the third largest industry in the province, generating between C$7bn (£3.8bn) and C$8bn a year. A young, party-loving population with liberal attitudes to drugs has created strong domestic demand, while the province’s mild climate and a ready supply of well-educated horticulturalists has led to supply of a premium brand of cannabis called “BC bud”, produced mostly in hydroponic “grow-ops”.

The drug’s superior quality – “one puff and you’re anaesthetised,” reported one academic – also found favour with customers in the US, encouraging an imaginative corps of smugglers. Customs agents have found shipments in church vans, hollow logs and even kayaks. One enterprising crew emulated the prisoners of Stalag Luft III, digging a 110m tunnel “under the wire”. The bigger problem for Canada, though, was the return trade. The US drug distributors preferred to pay in kind, with cocaine and guns.

Many commentators think Vancouver’s violence is just a skirmish on the fringe of the much larger war in Mexico, where 6,000 were murdered last year as the state tried to reassert control over territories seized by drug lords. The result has been a 50 per cent rise in the price of cocaine in Canada, and correspondingly higher profits to fight over. But not everyone is convinced. Experts at Simon Fraser University argue that the problem is home-grown, and that it’s exacerbated by police efforts to bang up mob leaders. “All you do is create vacancies as you put people in jail,” said Ehor Boyanowsky, an associate professor of criminology. “Suddenly there’s an opportunity.”

In the short term, say the academics, Vancouver’s problem is one of unco-ordinated enforcement. By one count, as many as 11 different agencies, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and local police forces, were responsible for suppressing the drugs trade. The courts are almost as confused. Canadian justice is more tolerant than America’s. No one has been successfully prosecuted for simple possession of marijuana in years, and Amsterdam-style hash cafés operate in a grey zone, only occasionally being shut down. Because of judicial leniency, officers prefer to see their targets collared in the US. The “Great Escape” gang were under surveillance on both sides of the border, but were arrested in Washington.

In the long run, many British Columbians, on both left and right, accept that legalisation and regulation are the answer. Just the sales tax on C$7bn of drugs would pay for several hospitals and schools, policing costs could be reduced, property crime by addicts to pay for their drug habits would be slashed, and the gang wars could be quickly reined in. “But the international politics are unbelievable,” said Dr Rob Gordon, director of Simon Fraser’s school of criminology. “The DEA [US Drug Enforcement Administration] starts to foam at the mouth at the idea of there being a huge, legal marijuana farm just north of the border. Under George Bush, the concensus was that if Canada ever moved to exercise its economic sovereignty, they would shut the border down by searching every vehicle.”

Until then, the best hope may be that one gang or another comes out on top, allowing it to impose stability, much as the Hell’s Angel’s bike gang used to do up to 15 or 20 years ago. Professor Boyanowsky said: “Those were the good old days.”

Build Your Own Solar Power Generator

Before the year is over, I am going to build something like this, even if to power my electronics and save a little green. I have most of the stuff, already, and I bet I can do it for less than $300.

h/t Fighting Tyranny

B’Man’s Wicked Garden: Rockin’ The Prep Work

What does a man do when he sees life as we know it changing, causing fear and anger in America, doubting the very ones that lead us because they are obviously more committed to the Beltway games of feeding their coffers more than they care for us, the very ones who put them there?

Why, a redneck like me plants a garden just to ensure he can feed his family.

I will document it as it progresses.

I am also dragging out my fishing gear and hunting gear for next fall (I haven’t hunted or fished in 3 or 4 years because of work). I believe, with all my heart, that my family will desperately need it. So, what are you city slickers gonna do? If you drive by here and see something in the garden that you like, don’t get burned for trying to take it.

Area Lay Out

Plowed

Disc’d

And I ain’t burnin’ this one down, but I will rock your ass out (if you’ll let me):

“Wicked Garden”

Can you feel like a child?
Can you see what I want?
I wanna run through your wicked garden
Heard that’s the place to find ya
But I’m alive
So alive now
I know the darkness blinds you

Can you see without eyes?
Can you speak without lies?
I wanna drink from you naked fountain
I can drown your sorrows
I’m gonna burn, burn you to life now
Out of the chains that bind you

Can you see just like a child?
Can you see just what I want?
Can I bring you back to life?
Are you scared of life?

Burn, burn, burn
Burn your wicked garden down
Burn, burn, burn
Burn your wicked garden to the ground

Can you feel pain inside?
Can you love?
Can you cry?
I wanna run through your wicked garden
Heard that’s the place to find you
‘Cause I’m alive
So alive now
Out of the dark that blinds you

Can you see just like a child?
Can you see just what I want?
Can I bring you back to life?
Are you scared of life?

Burn, burn, burn
Burn your wicked garden down
Burn, burn, burn
Burn your wicked garden to the ground

PTSD: Army pushing to deny claims!

Report: Army didn’t want PTSD diagnosed
April 9: Salon’s Mark Benjamin, whose recent investigation put the spotlight on doctors being pressured to not diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans, discusses his findings with Hardball guest host Mike Barnicle and Brian McGough, an Iraq and Afghanistan war vet diagnosed with PTSD and traumatic brain injury.

VIDEO REPORT at article from belows address>

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30142850#30142850

more about “msnbc.com video: Report: Army didn’t …“, posted with vodpod

Out of all the insanity and death from Iraq… and other ‘really do not have to be there wars’– I am ill at the fact that, yet another, kick in the balls goes to our people who went!! Went the hell anywhere… and did and saw and took part in things I for one can only imagine. And now this. What the fu-k are we doing???!! Spending trillions on big business and we spend diddlie- bullshit on our returning troops…. and make them jump through hoops and endless time to get what they get.

Reaching For The OTHER Side

I would start by saying that any viewpoint of “across the aisle” plays directly in to the game. It is this two party system which has become, if it wasn’t always, corrupt. The real owner/masters are the elitists: like bankers, political power players and those that control the media. People who run lobbyist efforts that form the government agenda, even when apparently against the will of the people (CFR, PNAC, AIPAC, etc); or, worse, lie and deceive them into policies that are not just unwise as a country, but immoral. Entities like the Fed Reserve and the IMF and the bullshit council Obama just attended. All that is what is driving the agenda for America.

What should be driving the agenda for America? First and foremost, The Constitution. Secondly, the citizens. It shouldn’t be money, power and world domination.

Why would I blame Bush for the past issues? He was in the driver’s seat. But just look around. I haven’t cut Barack Obama a bit of slack. I am one of his worse critics, imo. This has nothing to do with “across the aisle”, “them or us”, “Dem or Rep”. This is simply holding those that lie to us with abandon, accountable for their lies.

I am sick of those that do not have my, or most Americans’ best interest at heart, making decisions and lying to/brainwashing my compatriots to go along. I am sick of the hypocrisy and apparent lack of attention by most Americans… or those who only take their news from the MSM of the USA. I am even sicker of those who now claim the mantle of progressiveness, when in fact, they are nothing more than water carrying sycophants for the Demorat Party. I explore that more here with kelso’s nuts help:

“Progressive Blogs” have really become nothing more than water carriers for Obama and his administration, no matter what new lie is discovered or new negation of a promise made. The C&L’s, Daily Kos and ThinkProgress seems to be much more interested in playing to the MSM (you are seeing the “left” take over the airwaves slowly but surely).

The sad part is that it is so damned obvious that many of these are simply enamored by the attention they get, the power of the TV appearance, the search for more hits on their website, drawing in more money that they would back Barack Obama’s policies and lies, no matter how atrocious. It is virtually no difference between their ilk and the ones who defend Bush. The modus operandi is the same. Protect the party, and to hell with those that disagree.

Just yesterday, C&L’s David Neiwert (a favorite of my fake progressive attack dog, Gene’O) posted a congratulatory and agreeable post to Glenn Beck. Honoring him for “debunking” the FEMA camps set up. David and the Democrats at C&L posted a similar piece a few days before and now, all the sudden, these water-carriers are best buddies with Beck because he did the same piss-poor investigation into this issue that The Elite’s mouthpiece spouted.

Damn, David (and John Amato), you must be very proud that you are on the same erroneous page that Glenn beck is on. Nice work, geniuses.

Did it ever occur to you that a real investigation would actually investigate the paper trail of the government’s outline of the programs or the fact that Halliburton was give the contracts to build these FEMA camps? Why, of course not. Methinks that these “crack investigators” learn how to use that sleuthing tool called a Google Search, perhaps. Maybe even just for jollies. Google “PDD51″ to see that we could be arguably under a form of Martial Law right now. Google Executive Order 11,000 or go here to see that they have implemented a contingency plan for mobilizing a civilian work force, can take over the electrical grid and every other utility in the nation, or any other myriad of actions that take over the country and put people in to a controlled situation. Or try “H.R. 645″ to see the outline for such “Emergency Centers” and their implementation. Maybe this paper, “Strategy for Homeland Defense and Civil Support” may give you something to “investigate”.

In other words, these crack “investigators at C&L, the ones who give Popular Mechanics all sorts of back pats and suggestions that they are some sort of viable debunking source (why on earth this is assumed is beyond me, especially after their “debunking” of the 9/11 conspiracy… another area David and the Demorats from C&L will likely agree with the right-wing idiot now).

I have no patience for those who defend the past atrocities, most especially through their silence, like is Barack Obama’s tact. I hold him accountable now for those past atrocities and lies, because he will not honor his constitutional pledge and obligation to this great country of holding these thieving, murderous bastards accountable. But those who defend Bush now appear to me to be either party brainwashed, ignorant, or idiotic. Anyone who looks at what he allowed, even if he is a nincompoop, and not consider something horribly wrong, perhaps even downright evil may have occurred, is suspicious. I’m sorry, but that is the truth at this point.

But it isn’t just Bushies… now I see the exact same sheople-like following of Barack Obama by “the other side”. As a matter of fact, it is far worse with the Cult of Obama. People have invested themselves into a liar and now (just like the Bushies of past) are not willing to admit the mistake, much less actually scream and hold the man accountable for his lies and rhetoric that took their money and votes. I can think of no other description except “fools”. The “lesser of two evils” meme has gotten us a real Corporately owned master, but that was the plan all along, yet these “Progressive investigators” are too stupid to understand this simply issue.

Now, let me describe the moving target of my self-applied label (for my world view has changed over my lifetime):

Am I Liberal? On many issues regarding social welfare and the health of American citizens. Yep. Even “Progressive” about it.

Am I Conservative? When it comes to financial issues, especially regarding the MIC, the pork, and all the shenanigans… most especially the expansion of the American Empire. A resounding YES, I am Conservative.

But, we should not even be thinking about those wedge issues when the very heart of our Union is being torn apart by thieves and murderers (or covering up for them making them complicit). We should not be playing into their games of division and look more deeply at the issues that matter the most and then, you and I (Conservative and Liberal, whatever) can truly get shit done.

Who knows, if you strip away your “conservative” label, you may even realize that you are “liberal” in some ways.

Wouldn’t that be some shit?

The Barbarism of Haley Barbour

I hope you Mississippians are proud of your lobbyist Governor who must be considering a run for the Whitehouse (and the scary thing is that there are actually a few ignorant rednecks who would vote for this piece of shit):

Barbour vetoes furniture manufacturing tax credits

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Gov. Haley Barbour has vetoed a bill that would’ve given tax credits to furniture manufacturers in Mississippi.

Please read the thumb in Mississippians’ eye from the AP source.

Essentially, motion furniture had its heyday in North Mississippi for many years, until manufacturers started sending the cut & build operations overseas. I have witnessed so many companies shut down or lay off so many people over the past 4 or 5 years that it is amazing that the rednecks I know haven’t gone after a few heads.

Now this idiot Haley Barbour (he must be acting out his retribution towards his parents for naming him Haley… I mean, really. WTF?) has vetoed the only sound way to keep the Chinese honest.

Can you feel Haley’s love for his home state and the lives of working Mississippians?

I wonder if he and Bobby Jindal plan this ignorant, constituency back-stabbing shit together? Is that the new reTHUGlican ticket for Pres and VP?

REAL Conservatives CANNOT Honestly Defend Bush As A Conservative

There should be a general rule in America that if someone begins defending Bush’s “conservatism” or his “war crimes”, that a Scarlet Letter “W” should be hung around their neck. A real conservative knows that George W Bush was never a fiscal conservative. Primarily, anyone who claims to be a conservative and defends the illegal invasion and war crimes by Bush and his cabal is no conservative and doesn’t have a clue what conservatism is about. You are but another reTHUGlican who wants to claim some mantle, when point in fact is that you have no idea what the mantle means or what it is to carry it. One key way to know is that if you disagree with Ron Paul, then you are no REAL conservative (and he is about the closest thing we have to a real conservative this country has).

So when you come here, asking questions like:

What has Bush done that can be deemed war crimes?

Do not expect to be treated as if you are some inquiring mind. I see you for what you are, someone, intentional or not, who is complicit in the tearing down of our liberties and reputation in the world by your foolish defense of the indefensible.

Don’t be surprised if you encounter this type of post as a response (first kindly, hoping you are just retarded and don’t know better, but suspecting the worse):

Extraordinary rendition, establishing and endorsing torture, illegal wiretapping of American citizens, illegal invasion of a Sovereign country that had done nothing to us, lies and deceit to lead us into that bogus and financially debilitating disaster and the murder of each and every Iraqi and American serviceman lost in this idiotic “war for profit”. He and his ilk are instrumental in the financial fleecing and banker’s bailout. His multitude of illegal “signing statements”, and if I were to guess, his part in the 9/11 attack/coverup.

Should I go on?

Nice and to the point with perhaps a single debatable issue (the illegal wiretapping, and that could be a war crime if wars were started by using lies propagated from those wire taps or if torture was conducted because of those wire taps). But in every other instance I quickly noted, there is a strong opinion in this country (and obviously the rest of the world) that W and his corrupt crew of like-minded criminals did, in fact, conduct war crimes.

Just because Obama is not forcing the investigation simply proves that he is corrupt also, but certainly does not prove that W is innocent.

But the giveaway that this particular “conservative” is nothing more than another Party ideological water carrier, is his response to my quick note:

How is illegal wiretapping ANYWHERE close to a war crime?
Bush couldn’t have been more CALM during 9/11.
Terrorists were tortured…now they are released and doing their killing again. I don’t advocate torture on anyone, but it was better than releasing them.
Illegal invasion? Congress voted on a resolution! Iraq gassed so many Kurds! Saddam was a tyrant! He had his sons rape
newlywedded wives and forced the husbands to watch!
The financial crisis? Blame the banks that loaned to those who could not pay!
Nearly all of Congress knew Iraq had WMDs.
Ask Ted Kennedy about that.

“Bush couldn’t have been more calm”, so he is no war criminal? WTF? What does that mean?

I would venture to say that most murderous war criminals “seem” calm during the murderous event they are conducting. Ted Bundy was extremely calm as he enticed his victims into his killer’s lair. The Cho guy was “calm” as he killed all those kids. Jeffrey Dahmer was “calm” right before he ate his victims. And Cheney was calm as he denied sending NorthCom in to stop the jets from hitting the buildings, or when they “pulled” the buildings a few hours later.

Calm as a gentle rain of thermite.

“Terrorists” or people were tortured? Some were innocent and have been paid off by our government. You cannot think, truly, that each and every person taken in and tortured by us or our designates in Black Site Prisons were “terrorists”, do you? I don’t give a damn how many people you claim were the opposite, show one. But there is ample proof that even children were imprisoned/tortured. Erroneous bullshit, no matter how “scary” or to what effect is meant is the height of ignorance or complicity. Maybe you get your jollies out of knowing children and innocent “brown people” were tortured and killed? Some “conservatives” are like that, but not REAL Conservatives. Here is what a Fake Conservative says about torturing children by crushing their testicles (which I am sure you are in complete agreement with):

Cassel: If the president deems that he’s got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person’s child, there is no law that can stop him?
Yoo: No treaty.
Cassel: Also no law by Congress — that is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo…
Yoo: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.
-Human rights expert Doug Cassel and John Yoo, 12/1/05

REAL conservatives are called “conservative”, meaning they “conserve”. They conserve money (Bush spent more than any other president alive and then set up this financial ravaging for Obama to complete). They conserve weapons. They conserve lives and even children’s testicles, imagine that. They aren’t simply Party Clowns.

Saddam Hussein was indeed a bad guy, yet because of your hero, W, we have killed or caused the deaths of far more people than he did. (You didn’t seem to mention the FACT that Saddam Hussein killed on behalf of US, a minor misunderstanding on your part, I suppose). We gave him the weapons and technology. It was our country that supported Saddam’s rise to power. It was your other hero Rumsfeld shaking Saddam’s hand. But somehow this is justifiable to you? That is is ok to lie to the American public (and the world) to mislead us into supporting an illegal murderous invasion and kill countless little children.

You and your type are dangerous for this country, unless we can figure out a way to get through the MSM bullshit and brainwashing that has taken over America.

I vote that this country, preferably your hero, W, give you a one way ticket to your favorite vacation spot, Iraq. I can only hope that you two sit side by side and then leave the comfort of the plane to see your welcoming committee in Iraq take you in with open arms and kisses to each side of your face. I am quite sure that you will be welcome with open arms, especially by all the widows and children whose parents were gunned down by our illegal, murderous invasion. I’m sure they will see your “conservatism” and welcome you in the proper fashion.

Snarking aside, of course I don’t want you dead, conservative09. I want you to wake up and realize that there is a small, but growing contingent of Americans that are waking up. We have had several communications since I started this blog post which truly turned my mind about its decision that you are just a sycophant and hence, the direction of this post.

I am still blasting fake conservatives, but just as we discussed, we truly need to stop the rhetoric fed us by The Elite and begin to evaluate the truth on the wedge issues, then focus on the things that are causing our country’s demise. The wedge issues are nothing in comparison and that is the point. The Elite wants us fighting over bullshit, while they are ravaging the country as we look away.

Just as we discussed, we have many things in common. Without politics involved, it is entirely likely that you and I would get along famously. But I would have to been totally honest that we don’t have time for this inane bickering about subjects that don’t matter. You may not think that W is a war criminal, but that would put you in the world’s minority. I also believe that there will come a day of recompense and retribution for him and the entire cabal.

You wrote:

I get annoyed when people make charges with no proof.  Maybe there are things Bush has done that can be war crimes.  I understand your anger from him.  But be fair.

The way any criminal investigation should work starts with the “charge” of a crime. I think there is ample “proof” even from Mr Bush’s own words, that he was instrumental in the torture policy. I believe there is ample proof that the facts were “ginned up”, even totally falsified to convince the American public (and the rest of the world) to support this illegal invasion. There is certainly enough for a voracious and non-complicit justice department to see if what has been done is illegal. The fact that Bush’s justice department was filled with cronies is reason enough to suspect a coverup of illegality.And now with the proof of thermitic residue found in the 9/11 dust, I believ there is ample proof that something sinister and purposeful was done by Americans… TO Americans.

Now, how do you feel about finding the nonoparticle thermitic dust in the 9/11 remains? Is that reason enough for a “conservative” to want real criminal investigations to happen?

What would it take for a conservative09 to begin to consider all the facts and not just the ones that Fox news and Rush want you to know?

Seriously, I am curious to the answer. What does it take to suspect someone when it appears glaringly obvious to me and many millions of others?

Marijuana Causes Cancer Munchies

I have written about this miraculous breakthrough before and until I saw this at DeProgram (first shown at Raw Story), I couldn’t be sure how accurate it might be. But, apparently THC can, in fact, cause cancer cells to self-digest (to eat itself). Can you imagine the significance of such a thing?

I wonder who would fight such a significant finding (Big Meds, perhaps), or worse, try to patent the process still leaving marijuana illegal for normal consumption? I also wonder how THC affects lung cancers when inhaled? Or any other cancer, for that matter?

The most important question that MUST be answered:

Does consumption PREVENT cancers from occurring in people?

We need to stop this idiotic prohibition for a myriad of reasons, but medical use should be unquestionably an immediate and desperately needed rationale. America should be leading the world in the research of this drug. We should be leading the world on hemp production for all its uses (especially the one that keeps it banned: the best biofuel source available).

Marijuana helps in battle against cancer: study

The main chemical in marijuana appears to aid in the destruction of brain cancer cells, offering hope for future anti-cancer therapies, researchers in Spain wrote in a study released Thursday.

The authors from the Complutense University in Madrid, working with scientists from other universities, found that the active component of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol THC, causes cancer cells to undergo a process called autophagy — the breakdown that occurs when the cell essentially self-digests.

The research, which appears in the April edition of US-published Journal of Clinical Investigation, demonstrates that THC and related “cannabinoids” appear to be “a new family of potential antitumoral agent.”

The authors wrote that the chemical may prove useful in the development of future “antitumoral agents.”

The scientists conducted their research on mice, first stimulating the growth of cancer in the lab animals, then injecting them with a daily dose of THC near the site of their tumors.

The researchers also analyzed the tumors of two patients in an experimental trial looking at the effects of THC on a highly aggressive form of brain tumor, and saw findings “in line with the preclinical evidence” first observed in the laboratory mice.

Tennessee Welfare Lottery Winners

CHATTANOOGA – TennCare enrollees who hit the jackpot playing the Tennessee Lottery may not be as lucky as they think. Winnings over $600 must be reported to the state’s health care program for the poor and disabled, or the enrollee risks a fraud investigation. “People need to know that lottery winnings count as income,” TennCare Bureau spokeswoman Marilyn Elam said. TennCare’s 1.3 million enrollees always have been required to report any change in income. The new twist is the lottery, which began this year. “A $20 win is not going to affect your eligibility but winning several thousand dollars could. If you don’t report the income and it does affect your eligibility, that could be grounds for fraud,” Elam said. Tony Garr, executive director of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, an advocate for TennCare enrollees, said TennCare hasn’t done a good job of getting the word out about reporting lottery winnings. “I don’t think that is on the enrollees’ radar screens,” he said. Elam said enrollees are told when they join the plan that they are responsible for reporting any additional sources of income to the Department of Human Services. They also receive reminders on the bottom of form letters and benefits explanations mailed to them. Although some Tenn-Care enrollees have had their status changed because of lottery winnings, Elam cited federal privacy laws in declining to say how many. Lottery winners are responsible for paying the federal taxes on winnings up to $4,999. On payouts of $5,000 or more, the Lottery Corp. takes out federal taxes before giving the payout to the winners. TennCare and Department of Human Services officials have access to claims forms filed by Tennessee Lottery winners. The forms are cross-checked with welfare and TennCare rolls to determine if the winnings affect eligibility, if the winners have outstanding student loans or child support payments, or if they’ve received overpayments of food stamps or welfare benefits, Elam said.

Engineering Unemployment Rates Are Skyrocketing

There are those in this country that believe that we need to go towards a “service sector” economy and to forgo manufacturing as the mainstay of our economy. It doesn’t take an engineer (or brain surgeon) to realize that the America we know today was built from manufacturing, not from a service sector. There simply isn’t enough funds for this country to move forward without us making stuff.

Now the problem is that we are losing engineering to layoffs and plant shutdowns, so you may be forced to ask a brain surgeon for the details, if you don’t have the mental functionality to figure this out.

From SME’s Daily Executive Briefing:

Unemployment Rate For Engineers Spikes

National Journal (4/6) reported, “The unemployment rate for U.S. engineering and computer occupations is rising at a faster pace than for other professional occupations,” data by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics suggested. “An analysis of the data by IEE-USA, an organizational unit of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, found the unemployment rate for all engineers grew from 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2009.” Furthermore, “for computer occupations, the unemployment rate went from 3.3 percent to 5.4 percent including a jump from 1.9 percent to 4.2 percent for out of work software engineers and an increase of 5.7 percent from 3 percent for unemployed computer scientists and systems analysts.” Network World (4/6, Dubie) also covered the story.

Chemical Workforce Losses Continue To Rise. Chemical & Engineering News (4/6, Voith) reported, “The chemical workforce in the U.S. shrank by 11,300 in the first quarter as job losses in the industry paralleled those in the broader economy, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.” About “3,900 of the chemical jobs were lost in March.” The article noted, “The chemical industry’s rate of job loss has accelerated compared to 2008. The March employment figure is down 3.3% versus a year ago, whereas full-year 2008 employment was down only 2.5% compared to 2007. The recession has also had an effect on the chemical industry’s average weekly hours of work, which declined 1 hour to 40.9 hours from March 2008.”

Stop The US Empire

I have been given an opportunity to write for “real”. Hell, I don’t even know if I am capable, but I am most definitely motivated.

The thing about this blog was that I set it up for a very specific purpose and to a very specific crowd of folks I wanted to reach out to. Rednecks (read as a southern, country folk’s, “Bro”) are me. I am a southern country folk who happened to be able to pay his own way through college and learn a few things. It isn’t always meant as a slur (when used by me, that is).

But it does distract and now that the election is over and we still elected a right-wing nutcase, afterall.

Also, people notice a few curse words here that many consider offensive. That is me just letting off steam, but it isn’t the most serious way to illuminate oneself.

That being said, I am writing at another blog where I promise to not be so nasty and hopefully to offer real, constructive writing based upon the American Empire and our Militarization of our country and police. It is called Stop The US Empire.

My first post (which after today I will simply post a link, instead of the entire article):

Stopping The US Empire

This blog is dedicated to the truths so easily overlooked or ignored by common Americans: the fact that we, as a nation, act as an Empire. You may not like it or agree with it, but the fact is that our great country has become a totalitarian police state that has taken upon itself protectorate and “owner” of the world and her resources.

There are a multitude of issues that meld into general Imperialism: our oligarchical nature of governance, our hegemonic attitude towards the rest of the world, and our cultural hegemony by such groups like the Christian Coalition, et al.

The Oxford English Dictionary describes imperialism in 3 ways:

1. An imperial system of government; the rule of an emperor, esp. when despotic or arbitrary. 2. The principle or spirit of empire; advocacy of what are held to be imperial interests. 3. Used disparagingly. 3a. In Communist writings: the imperial system or policy of the Western powers. 3b. Used conversely in some Western writings: the Imperial system or policy of the Communist powers.

We can argue whether or not we have a single power player called an Emperor, but this type of imperialism is more an overall agenda of citizen domination by the Elitists (that is hegemony) and causing our world strategy to be one of forcing others, usually dependent upon our financial or military support, to do our bidding. It isn’t always with arms, but there are no qualms about using them to achieve the goal set forth by our owners.

Some even consider our system to be very near “Fascism“. From wikipedia’s description, I can understand why:

Fascism is a radical, authoritarian nationalist ideology^. Fascism advocates the creation of a single-party state.^[5] Fascist movements promote violence between nations and races as part of a social Darwinist stance that views violence between these groups as being part of evolution.^[6] In the view of these groups being in perpetual conflict, fascists believe only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in combat against the weak.^[7] Fascist governments forbid and suppress all criticism and opposition to the government and the fascist movement.

Altho on the outside looking in, most Americans believe we have a two-party system of politics. In actuality, this is far from being true because the owners control both parties and the results are basically the same when either party controls congress or the Whitehouse. Just follow the votes of each of them and see that when it comes to the imperialistic issues, they are lock-step. Following the money explains it all. They are being paid to carry forward the empire and the US citizenry is doing the paying, albeit unbeknown by most of us, because even if the empire is funded by corporate cronies and bankers, ultimately they get the money from us.

From day one our country has set foot on a path of hegemony and imperialism. Even the Louisiana Purchase was considered such… moreso was the foray into the Philippines. Almost each and every step we have taken as a country has taken us more and more towards this imperialistic state of affairs. Even Mark Twain noticed this long ago and wrote:

I have read carefully the treaty of Paris, and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem. It should, it seems to me, be our pleasure and duty to make those people free, and let them deal with their own domestic questions in their own way. And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.

And so the purpose of this blog is to take this very focused subject and monitor/record the US Empire as it moves forward with her hegemony and fascism. We will focus on events around the world and how our very own self-defenses are becoming more a state of militarized police and a nation whose liberties are slowly being taken.

City Slickers Will Never Understand

Cenk Uygur, from Young Turks wrote an article featured on Alternet about guns and basically wants to ban them without just saying it outright. He didn’t address the rationale or motive behind the killings or address much of anything except that basically “guns are bad” and “when will people learn”.

Guns aren’t bad, Cenk. The people are. And people won’t learn to give up their guns.

You must suck at poker for you easily gave away your hand with this paragraph:

I know it’s a political impossibility, but we need to reign in the permissive gun culture in America. I’ve gone to a shooting range several times. I get the allure of it. It’s fun and empowering. Until someone gets their head blown off. It’s madness that almost anyone can stroll into a Wal-Mart and walk out with a deadly weapon. Guns should be the hardest things to get in America, not the easiest.

No shit, Cenk? You went to the shooting range and was empowered? Did your head or balls swell with that power.

Dude, get out of the city and come spend a week with me on the farm. Or better yet, come ride with me to my home town of less than 2,000 people where there has been a rash of burglaries and thefts. Where people are tearing the copper wiring out of the walls of homes (or even off the poles).

Cenk, you must be rolling in the dough and can afford whatever meat people of your descent eat, but let me explain something about us poor rednecks. Many of us hunt for “food”. Can you freaking believe that? That we actually EAT what is killed and it helps our children NOT starve. Amazing, huh?

Cenk, you mean well and you have some points worthy of discussion and debate. You think gun owners don’t realize the killings or don’t care. You are wrong. That is precisely one reason I am keeping mine, is because of the crazy bastards out there. Your solution is for gun owners to give up their weapons when you know damn well that then only the criminals (both with and without blue uniforms on) will have guns. THAT is a very bad idea, Cenk and your little trip to the range doesn’t help with a real life scenario.

So don’t try this gun-ban lite horseshit. Say it out loud and then listen as you hear from serious people about their gun ownership and how wrong you are. You live in another world up there in CityVille, Cenk. Until you have even a smidget of understanding about country life, you should discuss the city problems and not try to wrap it all up in your ignorance and your experiences with gun empowerment. Your feigned knowledge of the subject is not impressing me in the slightest bit.

“Allowing just about anyone to own guns.” Yeah, it could be that it is ONLY the police that has them, right? In your perfect world? Who is “just about anyone”?

Tell you what, Cenk. You make sure you don’t have any guns (and please stay away from the gun range to avoid the larger crotched shorts from your growing balls), but leave the ones like me, who know how to care for and keep them in their secure position, alone. At least until the financial crash coming and I need it for that asshole from the city who decides he likes my shit more than I do (I wonder if that might be you). Because the fact of the matter is that all those folks who have no grocery making skills will use their grocery taking skills and this poor bastard ain’t having any of it.

Gun Range?

What a man.

Only 5 Million Jobs Lost

Recession’s Toll Reaches 5.1 Million Jobs

In a front-page article, the New York Times (4/4, A1, Goodman, Healy) reported, “With 663,000 more jobs disappearing from the American economy last month, swelling the total number of jobs surrendered to the recession beyond five million, the government’s response to the downturn is being put to a strenuous test.”

The Financial Times (4/4, Baribeau) added, “US unemployment hit 8.5 per cent, its highest level since 1983, as the recession continues to savage the labour force.” Also, “non-farm payrolls shed 663,000 jobs in March” were “in line with economists’ expectations.” According to the Times, “The grim employment situation is affecting many who are not counted in the official jobless figures.”

USA Today (4/4, Hagenbaugh) noted that, with “a record 13.2 million Americans were out of work last month,” it was “the first time since 1985” when “less than 60% of the U.S. population was working. And workers who held onto their jobs weren’t having it easy. Non-supervisory employees worked on average 33.2 hours a week last month, lowest since the government began measuring hours in 1964, as businesses cut employees’ hours. A record 9 million people were working part time in March even though they wanted full-time work.”

Bloomberg News (4/4, Willis, Miller) warned that the US “may suffer further job losses in the coming months,” as “the risk is that a continued hemorrhaging of jobs triggers another round of spending cuts by consumers, pushing the economy deeper into a recession just as it is showing signs of steadying after plunging in the fourth quarter.”

The Los Angeles Times (4/4, Dorning) pointed out that “because employment is historically a lagging indicator — continuing to languish well after economic output has started growing again — the outlook for workers remains grim.” But, while “most economists forecast that employment will decline through the end of the year,” and “many predict the jobless rate will peak at 10% or more,” the Times said that “there’s no doubt that optimism has rebounded. Among the recent signs of renewed economic life, orders for manufactured goods jumped in February after half a year of declines, consumer spending rose for the second month in a row, and a report on construction spending was better than expected.”

Meanwhile, according to the UK’s Times (4/6, Duncan), “the number of Americans suffering long-term unemployment is also sharply higher. Nearly a quarter of Americans out of work have been jobless for 27 months or more, the highest proportion since mid-1983. Total numbers of long-term unemployed people have climbed by 265,000 to 3.2 million.”

I don’t know about you, but I have yet to witness any rebound in anything. As a matter of fact, it is getting far worse day by day. This is the Biggie, folks, and the MSM won’t explain it to you as it is needed.

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: Monkeys Talk About Religion

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Conspiracy Nuts R Us

I resemble that remark.