Recent articles from Jan. 22, 2009 Iceland is burning, and it could happen in America by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt:  Obama's plans to extend the Afghanistan War with a big surge, and to leisurely end the Iraq occupation while maintaining US hegemony over the rest of the world using military power are ridiculous. We are nearing national bankruptcy and every 100 billion wasted abroad means that the day Americans are storming the barricades behind which politicians are cowering is just that much closer ... Jan. 18, 2009 Carbon County livid over inmate's medical bill by BDH, Unknown News Excerpt:  A Carbon County, PA inmate was feared to have a heart attack and was flown by helicopter to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown. He turned out to have had seizures and the bill to the county, after a 60% reduction, was almost $44,000. Commissioner Charles Getz said the county should be able to attach the costs to inmates ''so they follow them for the rest of their lives.'' ... Excuse me, Charlie, but this is just the type of mentality that is so common among politicians towards prisoners. ... Jan. 17, 2009 Can't turn my back by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt:  Everyone in the same boat as the Gazans, who have lived in fear of such an assault and are quite possibly next on the hit parade, are eerily silent on the media front. More disturbing than the lack of emotion or action on the part of the Western world is the sudden silence and stillness of the Middle East, the people most directly affected. Jan. 15, 2009 Enron's shadows, and Obama's clowns and doofuses by Theo Lipschitz, Unknown News Excerpt:  This looks like an ominous pattern with the disastrous young Obama presidency: he has appointed a cadre of bumbling apparatchiks to surround him. Supposedly he wants to surround himself with a diversity of opinions, but from what I have seen he has a room full of clowns and doofuses. Jan. 12, 2009 Losing hope by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt:  I used to believe that people could pull together and change the course of the world, it was a matter of opening their eyes, taking responsibility, and realizing their own power. The longer I live, the more I have my doubts about humanity, and about just how much longer I'll live to continue doubting. Jan. 2, 2009 Maybe, just maybe, Obama's silence on Gaza is a good sign by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt:  If I were in Obama's place I'd have some pretty draconian plans in mind for reining in Israel over the long term. But the best way to do that would require first having the American public overwhelmingly behind me... Dec. 31, 2008 Has Bob Moriarty lost it? by Siegfried Lemelson, Unknown News Excerpt:  I keep hearing these guys on CNBC, mostly the guys who have been wrong about everything for years, and they're saying that hyperinflation won't happen because the Fed will stop printing money and withdraw its bailout money once the economy begins to recover. I think that is dubious, at best. The reason is that the Fed is not composed of technocrats, they're not brain surgeons either; they are politicians, and they don't want to do unpopular things. So soon enough, we'll get hellacious inflation because the Fed is incompetent and incapable of doing its job. Dec. 29, 2008 Attacking Gaza -- any excuse will do by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt:  With the death toll rising -- 300 deaths (1000 injured) so far or as the Egyptians have said 300 MURDERS so far -- this represents a ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed of 300:1, much worse than last year's ratio of 40:1 and 30:1 in 2006, which were bad enough. As far as I understood it, most of the Palestinian deaths have been caused by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Dec. 26, 2008 Personal epiphany of the day by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt:  The last eight years severely tested my own Faith in the Almighty. It is hard to know which Test plagued me most! Fundamentalist Christian preachers' involvement in politics was a ball-buster. Naturally. And seeing nearly every national-level politician suddenly become a self-avowed Born Again, publicly praying and invoking God's Name at every opportunity was another. ... Dec. 22, 2008 The reality of the still un-reconstructed South by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  I refuse to even travel to the South anymore. It is not my country. I do not belong there. I have come to believe that the North and the South (including the South West and now Southern California) were never effectively reunited with the North as a consequence of the victory of the Unionist in our devastating Civil War. It has remained a separate country ever since -- the Unreconstructed South. Dec. 19, 2008 Season of sadness greeting by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  I too have hope, but it is the paradoxical sort that expects things to get better only after they get as bad as we can possibly imagine. It is not the kind of hope that most people need or wisely want. Dec. 17, 2008 The US government is now confiscating money by Theo Lipschitz, Unknown News Excerpt:  With interest rates at zero and the Fed planning to print money to buy things for its own account, the government is, essentially, confiscating money from the poor, the widows and the orphans to give to the wealthy. Every dollar in existence is devalued by more every day that goes by. The entire concept of "US Dollar" is becoming increasingly untenable! Dec. 14, 2008 Bush-Cheney-Paulson are up to no (or very little) good here by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt:  Yes, as usual, Bush-Cheney-Paulson are up to no (or very little) good here. And also as usual, citizen/taxpayers are being kept in the dark about a great many things in all this. And yes, B-C-P are actually stupid enough to jawbone the economy into even worse shape than it actually is, merely in order to get what they want. Dec. 12, 2008 Bailout, shmailout. Bah humbug! by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt:  I wonder if we can think back to the previous, $750 billion bailout for the finance industry for a minute? Remember how that one went down? Pelosi and Reid worked closely with Bush officials to get 'er done while the majority of Republicans voted against it. And we know how that bailout worked. Like sh*t. Dec. 11, 2008 Business as usual in the Windy City, and in America by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  What an ironic picture US politics presents. You can get impeached for sneaky sex, but have nothing to fear from destroying the Constitution or allowing your friends to loot the Treasury. If you are a politician that Karl Rove doesn't like, you go to prison regardless of the evidence of your innocence, but if you grease the right palms you have the right to act with impunity. Dec. 10, 2008 Greece -- the citizens vs. the elites by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt:  One just has to wonder -- what’s really going on in Greece? Are emotions really running that high or are those “hooded and masked protestors” really undercover police/agents out working to see that the real protestors and their protests are made to look bad so that the government can come up with some nasty crack-down measures? I figure that it is some of both along with a disproportionate response by the police. Dec. 8, 2008 The troglodytes of extreme wealth by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Saving the world is not a technical problem. It is a political problem. It is a problem of concentrated power that, in every instance, is working against positive change and for a regression to a feudalistic form of order, euphemistically referred to in the inner sanctums of power as the New World Order. Dec. 5, 2008 Adding up the American horrors by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  I remember the frustration of trying to clean this stuff off of my body with the small amounts of water available to us to bathe, bathing out of a cup essentially, because the Agent Orange was so sticky. Since that time I have had three cancers, chronic recurrent intestinal inflammation, skin problems and early onset diabetes, all attributable to the exposure. Truly, Agent Orange is a gift that keeps on giving. Dec. 2, 2008 Consider it tuition by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Are we not now confronted with a "representative" government that is made up nearly entirely of representatives the super-rich and responsive only to their needs and contemptuous of the needs of the people? Is not our revolution forfeit? Have not countless true patriots given their lives in vain? Have we not been robbed of our dignity? Dec. 1, 2008 Is money just a scorekeeping system or a vital necessity? by Lucy Lindblad, Unknown News Excerpt:  US government debt is no longer "risk free" -- and that means that the "moneyness" of US "money" is declining, which has serious repercussions for people who keep score using dollars! To buy insurance on $10 million of US government debt with a 5 year maturity costs $47,500 per year! Obviously, someone thinks the risk of US government implosion within the next five years is non-zero ... Nov. 21, 2008 Congress roasts auto executives over bailouts by Theo Lipschitz, Unknown News Excerpt:  Most of these companies, B of A, Citibank, car companies, drug companies, computer companies, etc.... most of them have profitable overseas subsidiaries. So my feeling is, if they need money now they should sell off their overseas stuff -- or else... to paraphrase the Congress-Critter, "You are a global company. Have you asked the globe for a bailout?" Nov. 19, 2008 Details, details, & details by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt:  What always seems to be missing from many news stories, no matter what the source are the details, i.e. the actual unknown news most of the time. What can you really understand without them? So any link that actually clearly offers a few seems worth mentioning to me. So here goes. Nov. 13, 2008 So it was all a con, a scam, flim-flammery by Amber Perez, Unknown News Excerpt:  When the dollar drops 25% in a day and interest rates on the Federal debt double in a week, then Obama/Pelosi/et al will maybe receive the information and do something to stop the financial blood spurting from the Treasury. It will mean military withdrawal for the US from most everywhere, except those host countries who pay us as mercenaries. Grinding poverty is a fixed feature of our culture of domination by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  It should be obvious to any halfway informed observer that the housing price bubble was deliberately engineered by the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector of the economy, and has produced a tremendous windfall of profits for the engineers. The hypocrisy of an industry that uses tax funded "bail out" moneys to support shareholder dividends and vastly inflated executive salaries and bonuses, while continuing put families out on the street by pursuing sociopathic foreclosure policies, sets a new standard for disingenuousness. Nov. 11, 2008 Got NADS? by Mary Ann M., Unknown News Excerpt:  The Democratic strategy has been to allow the Bush administration to do anything and everything, even when that meant destroying the Constitution and economy -- and now they expect us to believe that the 2008 election VINDICATES their leadership over that of the Republicans. They say the voters have spoken? More like a mugging victim screaming for help -- and then being beaten and robbed by the police. Undo the damage done by daydreams of wealth by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  What would you do for a million dollars, for a billion dollars? And what would a person you know well, but think of as having poor character, do for a billion dollars? Now, what do you suppose someone would do for a trillion dollars? I submit that they would easily part company with their sanity and come to regard the moral restraint exercised by ordinary people dealing with ordinary temptations as insane. They would be psychotic by virtue of having abandoned any frame of moral or ethical reference. Nov. 10, 2008 How to "save" the US automakers by Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein, Unknown News Excerpt:  The automakers are asking for $50 billion in bailout money, and that is just a start. I say, make it an end, but instead give each of the 1,000,000 remaining US autoworkers $50,000 in tax-free money -- that totals $50 billion -- and then let the car companies go into bankruptcy court. Nov. 8, 2008 Dealing with the collapse of Everything by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  The fact is, we don't know how all this will turn out. Odds are that many mistakes will be made, and many false paths followed, before a new pattern emerges. The goal of acceptance of loss is not to attain prescience but rather to clear away the fantasies and confusions that leave us mired in the process and unable to move forward to reconstruct our lives. Nov. 7, 2008 If we are to avoid another civil war by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  We will not win this struggle by means of violence; we will win it by capitulation of the narrow minority who are brought to the understanding that they can no longer continue with their crimes. Nov. 6, 2008 A good way to start saving the world by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Everyone can contribute by confronting the insane mutual mistrust that has grown up around our culture-of-fear by starting now, little by little, to reach out to neighbors, coworkers, commercial contacts and other more randomly encountered people and begin thawing the ice that has formed and frozen out community feeling in favor of a general, debilitating fearfulness. Nov. 5, 2008 Won't you join the fight against assholitis? by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  The path to true liberation must lie in the direction of confronting assh*les. Nov. 3, 2008 And the lies always end with "I'm John McCain and I approve this message" by Heidi Papademetriou, Unknown News Excerpt:  John McCain either knows he's lying, or his grasp of the truth is so tenuous that he seriously believes his inane smears. .Either way, you tell me, do you want a man whose grasp of reality is as loose and trembling as McCain's obviously is, to have his finger on the nuclear button? McCain supporter for Obama by Steven S., Unknown News Excerpt:  I'm probably 65/35 with McCain on the issues, but I'm 100% with Obama in the voting booth. A vote for Obama is a vote for campaigns run on the issues, and a vote for McCain is a vote for campaigns run on lies and smears. Nov. 1, 2008 McCain, Palin, and other sideshow freaks by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt:  To be fair, I have spoken with people who support the Republican Party and the conservative outlook who were quite far from insane. Their points were relevant, rational, even intelligent. But their numbers are dwarfed by the sideshow freaks making asses of themselves as they vandalize and threaten with little or no basis. Here's hoping you can pull your country up out of the mud, my American friends. Heaven only knows why you've tolerated being dragged through it this long. Attack of the Heebie Jeebies by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt:  In reality, a) most corporations and rich people do not pay 35% in taxes, and half of corporations pay no taxes whatsoever; and b) can anyone claim that business profits are so great now under the Bush Regime and still claim that the main reason for stock market sell-offs isn't about f*ck up but is because Barack Obama *might* raise taxes someday? Gimme a break. Capitalism depends on cycles of destruction by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  The destruction of the lives of ordinary people caught up in this process is a necessary part of this cycle, from the point of view of those bargain hunters with cash -- to them it is an entirely good thing. For the very wealthy, having sympathy for the ordinary people destroyed by this imposed cycle would be like the farmer worrying about the wheat plant he is cutting down to harvest the grain. Oct. 31, 2008 Tell Officer Friendly to get a warrant by JS Magruder, Unknown News Excerpt:  "Do you have a warrant?" If the answer is no, then tell them to have a nice day, and close your door. Omaha is now conducting one of those shams where they send cops door-to-door asking residents about "crime" in their neighborhood. Oct. 23, 2008 Can legalized bribery be called government? by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Every conceivable statistic that can serve as a measure of governmental competence -- health outcomes like infant mortality and longevity, educational outcomes, financial statistics such as national indebtedness and the balance of payments, investments in industrial tooling and transportation infrastructure, responses to natural disasters, the provision of safe food and drug supplies, and every other measure of governmental accomplishment -- has the US falling rapidly into a third world status. Oct. 22, 2008 Not so fast... by Pavel C., Unknown News Excerpt:  Now we are experiencing a moment of relative calm, which was purchased for a mere $5 trillion in bail-out money, and is probably intended to help the GOP in the November election. Afterwards though, what about the rest of the credit default swaps? Can the government prevent all bankruptcies by falling on the exploding grenades (and does that even help?) Oct. 20, 2008 John McCain: No hero, no honor, no patriot by Heidi Papademetriou, Unknown News Excerpt:  When John McCain says ACORN is "perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country" and says it on national television, John McCain knows that he's spewing horsecrap. He's not stupid enough to be hoodwinked by the lies about ACORN, but he's smart enough to adopt those lies and use them in his campaign. Oct. 18, 2008 If I ever launch a political campaign, I'll do it at Bill Ayers' house because I hear Bernadine makes a hell of a cheese ball by JS Magruder, Unknown News Excerpt:  If this weren't so pathetic, I'd think it was actually kind of funny (in a sick way, like when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize) but people are responding to a "terrorist" being invited to lecture at UNL by... wait for it... calling in death threats to the university! Yeah, go ahead and insert the line about "I know you are but what am I?" Oct. 14, 2008 "The Clean Slate Bill" by The Righteous Reverend, Unknown News Excerpt:  Under this proposal, one million dollars would be distributed to each and every taxpaying American citizen. There would be no income tax levied against this amount, however owed taxes could and would be subtracted, as well as owed monies for repayment of education grants and loans. Oct. 11, 2008 It really could be the end of the world as we know it by The Canadian, Unknown News Excerpt:  The market support mechanism for corporate loan defaults around the entire world does not work and cannot work within the context of this common disaster. Put another way, it means the US market has no back-up other than the Fed/Treasury printing trillions of dollars in support of market assets which have no real market value. Oct. 9, 2008 Bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Capital strikes are only meaningful when they are seen as analogous to the General Strike, in that the action must be coordinated, persistent and uniformly applied in the society. If the owners of capital persist in withholding investment, enabled by a government under their control, the only weapon left in the hands of the people is a general strike. Oct. 8, 2008 Are Ponzi schemes behind the financial sector fragility we're seeing? by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt:  SO, the Senate passed the bailout bill which I assume is basically the same as the bill proposed all along. It also has some unrelated "extras." It doesn't seem to be working. What was it intended to do? Why isn't it working? Loyalty to what? by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  A good place to start withdrawing cooperation is to encourage family and friends to discount everything they hear from mass media, much as the citizens of the former USSR knew to ignore anything communicated to them by their mass media. Every official announcement is some form of lie, distortion or disinformation even when it concerns real events. America as we have known it and loved it is finished by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt:  I have never before felt the sense of hopelessness as I feel now, after listening to these two pretenders to the Office of President. It is obvious that this debate was nothing more than a charade in which both of these so-called candidates refused to address the real reasons which is driving our nation into the abyss. Oct. 7, 2008 What part of US media is propaganda? All of it. by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  The first victim of the knowledge blender of mass media is complexity. People don't like complexity. We want our stories simple. We want the story lines that we have been imbibing since we were in the crib. We want concretely visualized villains with black hats and equally concrete heroes in white hats. We want simple logic in our explanations, A causes B, not A and sometimes Q, especially in the presence of Z, may cause B. This is our weakness of mind that those who would exploit us utilize to rob and enslave us. Oct. 6, 2008 Marxism is good for Wall Street, bad for the Proletariat! by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt:  In the midst of all this turmoil we should not lose sight of the fact that It is still the worker who through his sweat and toil is the creator of wealth, not the other way around. Capitalism creates nothing, and in order to profit must exploit the worker. Oct. 3, 2008 Tear down the houses! by SirJ, Unknown News Excerpt:  The problem is not the mortgages. The problem is the houses. There are too many of them. Buy them up and tear them down. Is McCain a dead man running? by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Could it be that the reason McCain is refusing to release his medical records is that he in fact carries a diagnosis of metastatic melanoma and may have as little as a few months to live? Oct. 2, 2008 Every now and then one of them gets caught by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Now that the whole country is a victim you'd think that we would just admit it to each other, grow back some spine, and get on with the job of taking the criminals down. Pretty soon the emotional barriers of shame, denial, guilt and fear will not be able to continue holding back the tide and a great tidal wave of anger will come crashing ashore and things will change. Oct. 1, 2008 Message to the World from the US: "Please help us!" by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Though I was momentarily buoyed by Monday's defeat of the humongously offensive Paulson proposal in Congress, I don't think that it represents anything near a final victory for the people. What it represents to me is a temporary setback for the criminal cabal that has taken over the country, brought on by a lack of confidence by legislators in the ability of crooked election processes to overcome the rage of voters at the uncharacteristically transparent nature of this latest mega-rip-off. Deal or no deal by Kathy Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt:  But I guarantee if the NEW DEAL was rewritten to RESCUE them, give THEM loans to catch up with their debts and forgive ALL their debts, starting out on a clean slate, it would be looked upon as a bailout for the workers/the middle class, who just happened to fall on some hard times and got themselves bamboozled by some thieves. Sept. 30, 2008 Jump by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt:  Jump, you rotten bastards in your three-piece suits, your wingtip shoes, your Rolex watches and your damned suspenders, you who threw good hard-working men with dirt under their fingernails out of work. Who owns your mortgage? by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt:  On Oct. 31, 2007 there was an important ruling by a US District Court judge in Cleveland, Ohio. He tossed out 14 foreclosure cases. A German bank was suing to repossess the properties, but the judge declared that they didn't actually own them. Sept. 29, 2008 'Conservative' is a synonym for criminal by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Real conservatives have become an endangered species because of their ideological commitment to actual law and order. The best and kindest thing we can do to honor the memory of real conservatives is to stop using their word -- conservative -- to describe the cabal of criminals that usurped the title by stealth and deceit. Sept. 27, 2008 No kidding, no exaggeration: Gangsters control the economy by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  The gangsters got their first opportunity to get inside with the prohibition scam in the US in the early 20th century. They got further inside by "offering" their services to intelligence agencies during WWII. Then the over-hyped Cold War "crisis" began the process of gangsters being invited wholesale and secretly into the backstage operations of government, especially running drugs and weapons to bankroll black operations (briefly and slightly exposed during Iran-Contra). Once they had their feet firmly in the door, it was only a matter of time before they took over completely. Derivatives + tons of leveraged money = tons of risky loans for nothing and a devalued dollar by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt:  How about that ban on short selling? That's a way of stopping speculators from selling off their contracts at a time when prices are going down which may also increase the downward pressure. The profit here comes from borrowing a security (e.g. stock) and then selling it. Then, at a later date when the price is lower re-buying it and pocketing the profit. The same thing can be done with future commodity contracts. Of course, this is now banned -- which should keep both stock and commodity prices HIGH. This hurts EVERYONE and will also hurt all of those speculators and the companies that do lots of short selling -- putting those companies at risk. Hmmmmm. Sounds like the FED is doing it's own "short selling" ... Sept. 26, 2008 McCain heroically dives onto bailout grenade by Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein, Unknown News Excerpt:  If it is true that McCain flew into D.C. and managed to break up the unholy alliance of the Democrats and the Oval Office then he actually did a good thing. A large majority of voters are against bailing out Wall Street, and by "against" I mean bitterly angry. It is hard to imagine what the Democrats are thinking -- if their deliberative process can be dignified with words implying human cognition rather than the herding behavior of cattle. Nationalize the banks by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  The financial system did not work the way we have a right to expect it to, and therefore a major overhaul is indicated with entirely new management. That's what they would do in a heartbeat if it was a professional sport team. What's happening instead is as if a team lost every game and the answer was thought to be to increase all the players' and coaches' salaries for next season. Sept. 24, 2008 Pirates of America by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Pirates of antiquity were the rock stars of Europe -- Blackbeard, Sir Henry Morgan and their brood relished notoriety, all the better to terrorize their prey into ready submission to their distinctive pirate flags. But today's pirates tend to hide their identities, and if they do have a public persona, it's a mask of grave probity and aristocratic pretension. But if we had to put a poster child's face on the pirate enemy Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would do nicely. Sept. 23, 2008 The future is now by Sherri B., Unknown News Excerpt:  It's game on time. If you cannot protect yourself physically get close to someone who can. This is no longer a drill. You must make the choice now as to how to protect your friends and family should a violent situation come knocking at your door. The Alaskan gas pipeline, Sarah Palin, & We the People by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt:  It seems that the royalty payment system is more like an "honor system." The reports submitted by companies are NOT verified, the system "continues to lack the ability to automatically detect missing royalty reports," and the manpower needed to check that the volumes of oil and gas paid in kind are accurately measured is inadequate. Also, companies can legally make changes to their data for up to 6 years after the reporting month. What a system! They're lucky they collect anything. Drive us crazy, then rob us blind by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Let's see if I have this straight. Corrupt politicians provided cover, by canceling any supervision for speculative finance and our major investment banks, for an astronomical swindle involving, in large part, lying about the true nature of mortgage backed securities that were made up of many fraudulently contracted home mortgages and selling them to gullible investors world wide. Sept. 21, 2008 These are the times that try to trick us into self-defeat by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  The best thing one can do to help prevent panic is to TURN OFF THE TV. With the constant drumbeat of putrid propaganda out of your head it will be much easier to clarify your mind. For those willing to make the effort, there are sources of information -- short wave radio, portions of the internet, and some books -- but in these times it is more important to know what your neighbors think than what the news anchor says he thinks (with a gun to his head or a bribe in his pocket). Sept. 20, 2008 Critiquing Obama's campaign by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt:  Obama is getting crucified on almost every single TV channel here. And if he was just planning to wait until the last moment to do a TV campaign, well, I'm afraid that's stupid as hell. For people are setting their voting decisions into stone at this very moment. Soon, a second chance by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Any social system that depends on coercion can only succeed as long as it is growing. When it loses steam because it has reached the limit of productive parasitism -- no more people to force into slavery, no more mineral wealth to extract with those slaves, large scale agriculture tended by those slaves fails due to destructive processes, and so forth -- it collapses. Sept. 19, 2008 Economic collapse will come soon, but this is not it by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  The ultimate question before us is how a relatively well educated and economically secure society could have allowed itself to be so thoroughly robbed. Robbery at the point of a gun is no respecter of the maturity of the victim. This robbery, however, was accomplished with the cooperation of the victims in a gigantic confidence swindle, a taking of candy from babies situation. Sept. 18, 2008 Old Testament thinking by SirJ, Unknown News Excerpt:  I will take on the challenge of explaining the evangelical right's theological backing for their seemingly contradictory stand on the killing of babies. I'm not one of them, I can't pretend to fully understand the Biblical basis they claim for their rhetoric, nor do I believe it is soundly based in the Bible. The iron fist is hidden by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  The US government's transparent lies are meant for the uneducated and the gullible. The rest of the world must live with the reality that any resistance will be met with massive state terror. America does not own its economy by The Canadian, Unknown News Excerpt:  The buy-out of Fannie and Freddie was needed to keep the US dollar from going into freefall. Many nations have large US dollar denominated holdings, and if the US Fed had let Fannie and Freddie die, it would have instantly killed the value of the massive investment in the US by foreign entities (China, Israel, European Union States, Middle East etc...). As such, the value of the US dollar, which is propped up by the paper behind these foreign entity investments, would have collapsed. Sept. 17, 2008 Ban lawyers from political office by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  How can we expect that people presented with such a blatant conflict of interest will resist the temptation to feather their own nests? A simple measure of reform would be to disqualify all lawyers from political office. It might be all we need to begin the process of digging out of the hole the legal profession has buried us in. Dreams of justice for the Bush-Cheney criminals by Jesus Jones, Unknown News Excerpt:  It's not like hoping for a miracle -- there's a real chance it could happen. Once Bush and Cheney et al are just citizens again, once there's less of a media reflex to always protect them, once there's no more mass delusional confusion that "going after" any of them means you're going after the American flag and not supporting the troops and all those briar patch lies, or that even investigating their crimes must be politically motivated, once they're out of power and their crimes become just what they are -- crimes -- there's a chance (not a great chance, just a small but reasonable chance) that some of the criminals and killers and collaborators of the Bush-Cheney administration might be brought to justice. Sept. 16, 2008 A predator, liar, cheat and thug by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Anyone wanting to enter the political arena who is not a creep is marginalized, or worse, by the cooperative action of the creeps who dominate the scene. News from A (Abkhazia) to Z (Zimbabwe), i.e. news from the pillaged lands by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt:  So what will happen to the two regions? Given that both Abkhazia and S. Ossetia sought independence from Georgia in the early 1990s (plus S. Ossetia had its 2nd. independence referendum in 2006) and given that they both have already created their own governmental structures -- Abkhazia has its own president and prime minister and S. Ossetia has a president and its own administrative unit--they are ready for independence. If I could ask Sarah Palin a question by MonkeyMan, Unknown News Excerpt:  Why is killing children that feel pain OK, but killing a baby that doesn't feel pain not OK? Sept. 15, 2008 End-game scenarios for America by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  The worst possible exit from the condition of imperial garrison state, and the most common in history, is military overreach and defeat on the field of battle. If, as seems increasingly possible, our rulers make the mistake of provoking a nuclear war with Russia by overplaying their hand (as we just witnessed in Georgia) then our species itself is at risk. There will be no winners in such a war. We will exterminate ourselves. It's just a little piece of history repeated by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt:  Although America still retains a Senate, it is no less a rubber stamp than that of the Roman Senate under the Emperors. All important decisions are made behind closed doors, without any input from the people or their alleged representatives. Elections have become a fraud and any opposition to the status quo will put the average citizen into conflict with any one of the numerous anti-terrorist legislation now on the books. Sept. 14, 2008 It will take trillions to fix Bush's mistakes by Theo Lipschitz, Unknown News Excerpt:  At this point the system is going to change ownership. Foreigners will assume control of the majority of America's assets, and you can bet that they will be calling the shots. Sept. 13, 2008 It all hangs on media integrity by Tom W., Unknown News Excerpt:  If the media has any integrity at all, reporters will say without ambiguity that John McCain is full of crap. But I really don't expect that. If the media had any integrity, they would have reported somewhere amidst GW Bush's thousands of lies that he's full of crap too, but they never did. The trouble with Obama and why he'll lose by Juan P., Unknown News Excerpt:  In some ways it is best that the Democrats lose again now. They deserve to lose. And they've built the road to defeat, one brick at a time, starting way back with the Iraq War authorization in 2002. Since then, they've gone along to get along in every instance. Sept. 12, 2008 Our endorsement: Barack Obama for president by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News Excerpt:  Politically, he's a middle-of-the-road moderate when this nation rather desperately needs a principled radical and a complete change of direction -- but Dennis Kucinich isn't running and Ralph Nader can't win, so Obama's the best we're going to get. And he's an absolute Gandhi compared to what we've had, or to what the monstrous John McCain offers. Sept. 10, 2008 Lincoln was right, and now the Republic is destroyed by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Give me demilitarization or give me death, which at my age and state of health is not as dramatic a statement as when Patrick Henry first expressed the underlying idea. We need to declare war on wars of all kinds if we are to earn our freedom. This is not a pacifist approach, just a common sense one. Sept. 8, 2008 Palin and the Cruelian vote by Laurie P., Unknown News Excerpt:  On the issues, Sarah Palin is as terrifying as anyone on the far, far, farther right. She's a chip off such blockheads as James Dobson or Mike Huckabee, a public policy Christian who likes her church and state thoroughly mixed. Sept. 6, 2008 Remember, it is always darkest just before dawn by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  Other nations have dealt with this and survived -- Chile, Greece, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Argentina, the former Soviet Union and many others. It is a well-worn path to freedom by perseverance and courage. We will be a better people for having experienced a true struggle to free ourselves from authoritarian oppression. Boxers in a bunch over Georgia, Russia, and bull by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt:  From where I stand Russia's done little if anything wrong, in light of a sudden and violent violation of a decade-long cease-fire forged from a brutal war of independence under the guise of unifying the country. Sept. 3, 2008 Please respect my daughter's right to privacy ... just long enough for me to take it away from the rest of you by Madeline Zane, Unknown News Excerpt:  Sarah Palin, as well as a number of humane non-crazy people, has asked that we all respect her daughter's privacy at this difficult time. And normally, I'd be on board with that. But in this case, I'm willing to make an exception. Because here's the thing: the privacy that Palin is requesting for her daughter, is the same privacy she would take away from the rest of us. The whole world is watching by JS Magruder, Unknown News Excerpt:  I was going to ask hubby to rent Medium Cool on the way home from work, but I figure we can save the three bucks rental fee and just flip on the telly. Ah, beating down journalists -- there's just something so nostalgic about it! It's so ... third world. Get a few flaming tires in there and you've got a spectacle worthy of the worst regimes. Sept. 2, 2008 Exploiting tragedies that they themselves create by Madeline Zane, Unknown News Excerpt:  The Republican reaction to the hurricane is so disgusting on so many levels it is nearly impossible to name them all. ... Aug. 30, 2008 It's not the economy stupid, it's the system. by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  To me, Obama comes off as a militarist in the mold of every US president since WWII. He seems to be advising carrying a really, really big stick and mumbling empty phrases about diplomacy. I end up thinking that if he is allowed to take office that there may very well be some reforms that help some folks a little, but that the basic system of plutocracy will be unchallenged and encouraged to grow yet stronger. Aug. 29, 2008 Our political theater of the absurd by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt:  By now it should be clear to anyone with a functioning mind that our political process has become a mere matter of theater designed to conceal the fact that our country has become a corporate pirates' nest, where the only political issues left in play are those that in no way step on any pirate's toe nor threatens the continued hauling in of the loot. The country is a wreck and falling ever more rapidly into decay, but from the view of the pirates this is a good thing. Aug. 26, 2008 Just a tiny drop of what Old Salt will need to learn about by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: It seems that the hit men among other things bribed and also threatened leaders in order to get them to cooperate with “Uncle Sam and our oil companies.” Of course, those who didn't cooperate had to be removed. Then, the CIA turned up to cause coups, rig elections, or assassinate some. The leaders that they “got to” did as they were told and accepted large “development” loans from the World Bank, for example. This money could then be used for the “projects” they were pushed into doing so that the money flowed into US companies. Once the countries were indebted, they had to pay off the loans. This led to such actions as austerity programs, fuel price hikes, and public sector wage freezes. Alternatively, they could raise the money by accepting US military bases or by selling off their oil and other natural resources. Aug. 25, 2008 Dr. Doom's warning by Lucy Lindblad, Unknown News Excerpt: Dr. Nouriel Roubini (a.k.a. Dr Doom) harshes the US government for a) massively subsidizing the wealthy with the on-going bail-outs, and b) allowing massive accounting fraud to continue even now because they are terrified of triggering an economic collapse. All in all, this is the most bearish article I've read in some time! For example, he is predicting that the S&P 500 has only fallen half way from its highs, and that the recession will last 18 months or more... Aug. 24, 2008 Obama's awfully naïve by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt: I know you think Obama knows what he's doing. But I disagree. He seems awfully naive about some very important issues, as well as over-confident to the point of arrogance. Both usually signs of an immature and/or inexperienced person. Yeah, that's better than a truly demented and perhaps evil man like McCain. Aug. 21, 2008 Based on pipelines, the "Cold War" IS over -- if only the US-UK would shut up by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: Russia and Western oil and natural gas companies are WORKING TOGETHER just fine while even experts get fooled into thinking that Russia is blocking Western efforts and/or that WWIII is only minutes away. Basically, the same goes for Iran. Aug. 19, 2008 Getting over it by Sherri B., Unknown News Excerpt: I've come to realize that war is and strife is a part of the circle of life. Does it have to be? No. Could we solve our differences? I'd love to think so. As long as the hunger for power and wealth abides in human hearts around the world the madness will continue. Perhaps our great-grandchildren will have much more sense than their elders and learn to live in peace. As it stands now it won't be happening. Aug. 18, 2008 A gigantic protection racket by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: We are well into World War Three, my friends, and unless we figure out how to pull the plug on gangster capitalism the ultimate cataclysm of total war and total destruction awaits us just around the corner. Whether that destruction comes from the use of weapons of mass destruction or from climatic catastrophe or some other, perhaps unanticipated, consequence of war, is a minor consideration. Twofer of travails by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt: After seeing the candidates' joint appearance at Saddleback Church, I came away believing that Obama actually has a very good chance of losing the election unless he gets his shit together. McCain "won" the contest by far, in my opinion -- there was really nothing about Obama's performance that seemed presidential; it was as if he were a young man speaking to a wise elder, with timidity and trepidation. Oy. Aug. 16, 2008 That terrible clang as the huge iron gate swings shut by The Alchemist, Unknown News Excerpt: You see, the communists are smart. They know that if they were to cut your food down to 500 calories a day, everyone would revolt, and even though they had guns, there were far more of us, and a mass rebellion would have overrun them. No, they did it gradually. 1900 the first week, then 1800 and so on. But eventually you were starving on a cup of rice a day. Aug. 13, 2008 Torture for torture's sake by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The main use of torture in any setting is to force the appearance the victim's acceptance of the torturer's belief system. When the victims of the Inquisition cried out admission of their guilt of fraternizing with the devil, the torturers felt validated -- they rationalized their cruelty by telling themselves that their victims' souls had been saved. Holy hate by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: Love for one another, unending understanding, and divine forgiveness has been a unifying factor in many religions across the globe. Even godless heathen atheists like myself know the simple value of being kind, loving, understanding, and forgiving. We all forget to be one of these things at one time or another, but we are only human. ... Fred Phelps preaches that we should be none of these things under any circumstances. McCain's bigamy, and answering a rhetorical question by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The chief problem of living in a confidence game environment occurs when people start repeating the lies that they have absorbed either explicitly, as in "We have to strike back over 9/11," or implicitly by unconsciously incorporating the assumptions incorporated in the lies, i.e. "National security is best served by having an invincible military." When did I get old? by MonkeyMan, Unknown News Excerpt: The fear language seems pervasive. You might get sick, "be afraid." You might get sued, "be afraid." You might be killed by terrorists, "be afraid." Global warming is sending a storm your way, "be afraid." I don't want to be afraid, I want to relax and start working toward retirement. And I am getting very annoyed at the people around me who ARE afraid. Aug. 11, 2008 What's going on in South Ossetia, Georgia? by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: As for what matters the most to Russia, I actually don't think it is the BTC pipeline. They can still get their own projects going. There are enough customers for both the BTC and Russian pipelines. Thus, I assume that it IS the missile defense shield and the possibility of Georgia joining NATO and further encircling Russia with NATO countries that matters. A rough millennium for the mentally lazy by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: It has been a rough millennium for the mentally lazy. Forced to accept that Earth wasn't even the center of the Universe, much less the center of the solar system; Forced to accept that internal mental processes condition what we experience as "objective reality;" Forced to abandon ideas of racial superiority (big rearguard action there): And now thinking people are forced to give up the idea of that special covenant with God that we believed placed us in the position to dominate and endlessly exploit the Earth and all its life. Aug. 9, 2008 The relevant struggle by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: True power actually does stem from the people, not from slaves, not from hostages, not from mercenaries, not from monopoly capitalism, not from superior weapons. The question is whether or not the people are awake enough to respond to the challenge of their oppression. Aug. 7, 2008 That's what Jesus would do by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: Too often you see people use faith or custom as a flimsy pretext to break the law and do as they please, but instead here is a refreshingly genuine and, dare I pun, blessed act of civil disobedience for a just cause. Aug. 6, 2008 Truth is a target meant for extermination by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: As each new false story is elaborated it necessarily incorporates elements of previous false stories that have stuck in the public mind as elements of reality. Over time the fraction of actual reality that is retained in the public mind is diluted to the point of non-existence. Harry Browne, though dead, is still right on gold by Theo Lipschitz, Unknown News Excerpt: Over the medium to long term, the outlook for gold and silver prices seems good, especially for Americans. We know that the US is running ½-trillion deficits now, and annual increases of the Federal debt ceiling in excess of one trillion dollars are likely (but would probably be squelched fairly rapidly by our foreign overlords in China, Russia and the Middle East). Thus, continuous debasement of the US dollar is all but certain. On top of that, price inflation is running 5% in the US -- minimum -- and may increase during the coming years. Many, including the late Harry Browne have advocated owning gold as "insurance", and the reasons for doing so still appear valid. Aug. 5, 2008 USA, RIP by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Everywhere we see patriotism proclaimed by scoundrels and the simple-minded and ignored by the rest. To an increasing number of US citizens their chief identity is couched in membership in some ethnic, religious or political group. Nowhere do we see people saying that we are all on the same side and, for the sake of the country as a whole, we need to compromise and settle our differences. Why Cipro, when that's not the recommended antibiotic? by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Yes, dear friends, the monsters are no longer confined to the area under the bed. And yes, these monsters are quite capable of railroading a scientist and even murdering him and trying to make it look like a suicide in order to clear the case and put enquiring minds to rest on the issue of possible official culpability in domestic terrorism. Aug. 4, 2008 The whining of winners by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: An unvarnished assessment of the reality of increasingly rigid class structures in our society, underpinned by credentialing by elite educational institutions such as Yale and Harvard, reveals that this is a path to social failure. ... If you have been told all your life that you are superior and beyond error, little surprise that you can commit the most egregious errors with supreme confidence. Aug. 2, 2008 Journalism is an empty suit: Wear it by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: To have passed law and allowed regulation that has resulted in a very centralized control of mass media is to have violated the First Amendment, by having abridged the freedom of the press. In fact, we are witnessing a wholesale exfoliation of news staff at nearly every major newspaper and network bureau. Journalism is becoming an empty suit. Why can't Iran have nukes? by HappySysiphus, Unknown News Excerpt: It is patently racist to say that white Christian global expansionists can have nukes, but Brown Islamic global expansionists can't. Especially when the price for not having nukes is that your country is subject to a drop-by US Marine "Liberation" at any time. July 31, 2008 To coin a word: "Underfitting" by HappySysiphus, Unknown News Excerpt: Michael Moore's FAHRENHEIT 9/11 is a good example of possible underfitting. In the film, he viciously attacked the Bush administration for its handling of the crisis at a time when few were speaking out. He was awarded the most prestigious film prize in the world for doing so. Yet, he completely refrained from exploring some convincing theories circulating widely that the administration itself actually planned the attacks. In this way Michael Moore created a compelling argument for the Bush administration: "Not even Michael Moore believes the Bush administration planned the 9/11 attacks!" That's underfitting. Canada's military is in Iraq by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: As far as I can tell the Canadian government, contrary to its public pronouncements, is enthusiastically involved in the nebulous project of "The War on Terror." July 30, 2008 With Obama, a little uncertainty by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt: You may not like this article, but it does make some decent points. Even if some of them make McCain look good, and Obama look iffy. I must admit the only thing I too know about Obama doing that I admire, was give a spectacular speech once. He even made me believe he was anti-war. But all the points he scored with me there he has since lost with his FISA betrayal, and his talk that he will continue to war-monger and throw infinite cash at the Pentagon much the same as Bush or McCain after elected. And he might not do much towards universal healthcare, either. July 29, 2008 Appealing to our worse selves by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Oh, and keep up a steady stream of nice sounding lies about how all the above is part of how a free country that honors human and civil rights operates and imbue the people with a sense of exceptionalism and manifest destiny that puts them in the role of bringing "American Democracy" to the rest of the world. And by all means make sure that people believe that God is on our side. Snap out of it people, don't go under their spell by Kathy Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: My candidate will piss on you. Yeah, well, my candidate will shit on you. OK folks, which do you want? One of these two BUFFOONS will be our next pResident. The idiots who still take this canard seriously will press the buttons and magically another four years of hell on earth will continue, that's for sure. Infusion of blood substitute won't save the US economy by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: When private institutions are allowed to create money the die is cast for eventual insolvency. It is in the interest of privately organized banking to drive the customer ever further into debt. There is no force to oppose this tendency when the power to create money is in private hands. July 28, 2008 6,000 centrifuges & uranium enriched to 3 to 5% = a little more fuel for the power station by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: To put things in perspective — it would take 40,000 to 50,000 centrifuges to produce the nuclear fuel needed for ONE plant for ONE year. The article also is only an announcement that Iran "possesses" the centrifuges. They also have to be installed and start working. Note that the US has 104 nuclear power plants — Iran is still constructing ONE. It MIGHT open in late 2008. July 27, 2008 Capitalism is dying, and good riddance by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: A new system of economics, and a new system of government is long overdue. Not an economic system as we have at present, in which the wealth which created by the worker is confiscated and controlled by the wealthy, but an economic system in which the worker controls the wealth which he creates for the benefit of all. And a new system of government, not that of our present so called government which is nothing more than the political wing of Wall Street, but a government representing all the people, not just the wealthy few. The stealth invasion of Canada by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Canadian intelligence services and border patrol forces seem to be totally integrated with dominant US agencies. They apparently use bogus intelligence provided by the US enthusiastically, barring travel to Canada by US political opponents of the right-wing cabal that runs this country. The case of Maher Arar is a testament to the diminished rights of Canadian citizens, relative to US interests. Canadian troops are currently fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq against the overwhelming protest of Canadians. The participation of Canadian troops in the shameful military occupation and obstruction of democratic rule in Haiti is particularly egregious since no conceivable Canadian strategic interest is involved. Witnessing these things makes one wonder if it is already too late, if, as it seems, the functional equivalent of foreign control is not already in place in Canada. Implosion of the American financial system by Mary Ann M., Unknown News Excerpt: What we are seeing is a bail-out of the richest individuals and corporations. They make the rules, and their first rule is that they get bailed out first. July 26, 2008 Anger can be power if you know how to use it by The Canadian, Unknown News Excerpt: I am absolutely surprised at the shit people take. ... I do not consider myself a bully, nor do I look for conflict, but I refuse to give up my personal presence and dignity. July 25, 2008 The storm of pent-up anger by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: This is my main message to people who would survive the coming struggles: Protect yourself and your family by doing everything you can think of to make your neighborhood peaceful and sustainable. Organize cooperatively for mutual aid or expect to find your independent self totally out of luck. July 24, 2008 Life goes on in Tehran by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: Look at the pictures. I very much hope that the scenes shown will not be spoiled by the horrors of being attacked. Read the comments. You will see how bombing and murdering or injuring innocent Iranians would be ABSOLUTELY CRIMINAL. July 23, 2008 You have one more chance to escape by Pavel C., Unknown News Excerpt: My own view, as of July 22 at 10PM, is that the global markets are temporarily recovering from their massive fears of things to come. This process will continue for a few weeks, or perhaps even a few months. During that time we are, as individuals, in a state of economic "grace" (sins forgiven, chance of redemption provided), and we can use that time exactly the way the Wall Street insiders are using that time - to escape(!) from our unwise choices of the past and find safe havens. July 21, 2008 The good, bad and ugly truth about Obama? by Theo Lipschitz, Unknown News Excerpt: The good news about Barack is that he is highly intelligent and not unwise. He is actually well-intentioned, and not an evil man. The bad news is that he is a middle-of-the-road consensus builder, who will consult with experts and lead the country along a middle course, but do nothing politically dangerous. Sudan (Darfur) and Zimbabwe for progressives and liberals by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: As I see it, all progressives/liberals (I include myself) ought to have learned by now that wars are NOT the answer and that when there are conflicts, calling for resolution is the way to go. July 19, 2008 We tell ourselves it didn't happen by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: I saw the sea change in the early eighties. I tend to blame the leadership. People like the actor/president, who's name shall not be mentioned, who informed the nation that the rules had changed, the laws no longer protected the little people, the new principle was, in his words "caveat emptor." The literal translation from the Latin is "Let the buyer beware," but his meaning, as has become more and more clear was "Let the little people beware." The insanity of paying attention to the election by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: As long as our minds are considered the private property of those with the money and incentive to construct false realities using mass media for their private benefit, elections have no meaning. Concepts of freedom and liberty, similarly, have no tangible reality without access to an accurate understanding of events. July 18, 2008 War criminal Pelosi complains about Bush by Siegfried Lemelson, Unknown News Excerpt: Nancy Pelosi is a wretched example of a politician — and a person. It is sickening to hear her talk. It just makes me want to puke when I see her botoxed face on TV. If she is a "liberal" then we are doomed, and our Congress needs to be thoroughly reamed out in the coming elections. Democracy, theocracy, or just crazy? by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: If you're not horrified by now, you're either naive, moralistic to the point of delusionally assuming this is a blow only to promiscuity, or simply deliberately avoiding looking at either the big or small picture, for fear of having a deeper understanding. The Fannie/Freddie scam by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt: "The System" responded magnificently to the idea of a bail-out. Stock markets rose around the world, and suddenly, we're all wearing sunglasses even at night because our future is so bright! July 17, 2008 Nothing new under the sun by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Just as in the days of old, if you are perceived by the ruling elite to be one of them, you can do no wrong. In fact your status may actually be enhanced by continually screwing up, since it serves like nothing else can to advertise the impunity of power. July 16, 2008 Wrong on every issue, big and small by Amber Perez, Unknown News Excerpt: I have never seen anyone as consistently wrong as Bush. It is remarkable how the man is always wrong. You can take it to the bookie, then collect the winnings and take them to the bank: Bet against him and become a millionaire in the last six months of his presidency. July 15, 2008 Mixed signals on dangerous, dangerous Iran by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: Iran's out to get us and secretly building superweapons, but don't worry, their conventional weapons aren't worth shit and they're bluffing about the progress they've made with their power plants. Also, terrorism is a threat to world peace, so the answer is to engage in war across the globe. July 14, 2008 Help speed the collapse of the whole rotten financial structure by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: We must understand that this situation has not come about because of a change of weather or a witch's spell, but because of the unethical, criminal business practices of the Wall Street bankers themselves. What is worse is the reaction of Washington, which rewards these rascals with taxpayer bailouts when they should be subject to Congressional investigation, and if found to be in violation, prosecuted. Obama's massive miscalculation by Angry Annie, Unknown News Excerpt: There are a hundred issues I disagree with Obama on, but very few of those issues are life or death, make or break issues. This is one of them, right up there with if he had announced that he plans to expand the capacity at Guantanamo or refuse diplomacy with Iran and just bomb 'em. He has slashed at one of the key issues that make (made) Obama a better candidate than McCain. Our corrupt system vs. Ron Paul's purported libertarianism by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: I do assume that Ron Paul's foreign policy ideas would reduce the number of guns, but his solution of (individual) self reliance and probably scrapping or mostly scrapping our welfare related programs and programs like Medicaid and Medicare (entitlement programs) just seems wrong to me. Democrats and Bush rush toward economic armageddon by Mary Ann M., Unknown News Excerpt: The only thing the US government has going for it now is that there are many countries with even less effective national leadership. The world has been in a Currency War, a war to print money faster than the other guys to maintain export competitiveness, and something like 50 countries now have 10%+ inflation rates. But if the US government's spendthrift policies continue I expect the people of the world to stop buying US dollars as "reserves" and to load up on other things, like, say, gold - or anything else, really. And if that happens, we're in deep sh*t. July 13, 2008 Gut-check: The courage it took to stand up for civil rights by Randall P., Unknown News Excerpt: Pfft and blood and shrieks of terror and, yeah, sometimes even funerals, and still, men and women, black and white, came and massed and marched. It was never anything like the marches of today, where you maybe heard about a protest and decided whether it fit your schedule for a Saturday afternoon and if it did maybe you went and carried a placard for an hour or maybe you found an excuse not to go. No, it was something different. It was putting your life and your health and your guts if you had any on the line. It was a risk for the right thing but it was a serious risk. Coincidence or bribery? by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: I always try to remember to never say always or never, but I always never remember. It turns out that it is not true that cozy political graft never goes unpunished. A little story out of San Francisco about a guilty verdict on a official corruption charge is to news what the dog that didn't bark is to mystery writing. This is a sort of man bites dog kind of un-news. July 12, 2008 Ideology is a poison regardless of the flavor by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: As Einstein famously said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." This insight, as applied to the process of political reform suggests that the standard ideology of liberation is grievously at fault, if not simply a reflection of mass insanity. An alternative approach, and the only one that has historically produced prolonged periods of economic equality, is to focus instead on the enforcement of human rights, as codified now in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. When we can achieve the maturity to see that an injustice to anyone is an injustice to everyone, and that those experiencing the greatest injustice deserve priority attention, we will have earned the right to live in peace and abundance. Mr. Hanky goes to Wall Street by Pavel C., Unknown News Excerpt: Listening to the politicians talk about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is like watching South Park's "Mr. Hanky", the singing Christmas turd. Singing turds, all of them. July 8, 2008 Smaller and more local is always better than bigger and more universal by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Local control and national sovereignty obviously does not guarantee freedom from control by criminal elements, but at least it offers the hope of containing and limiting such control in a way that offers a chance of being able to construct just societies. July 7, 2008 The only plausible solution by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: I am fond of our species and would like it to survive and see a better, sustainable future. I welcome any proposed solution, but as I think deeply about the issue and study the relevant scientific issues, the only plausible solution I have been able to imagine is the setting off of a few nuclear weapons in near space. On the brink of yet another war Comment: We've been here before — all last year, in fact — but who can bet against the stupidity and mindlessness of George W. Bush. Check out this excerpt: "According to Israel's media, President Bush even told Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he could not trust America's intelligence community and preferred to rely on Israeli intelligence."   Theo Lipschitz    PERMANENT LINK  July 6, 2008 A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it by Sharon G., Unknown News Excerpt: We kept the Republic for a couple of centuries, and made it better along the way, adding freedom for slaves and women, eliminating child labor and even adding a New Deal... but over the past few years the Constitution, the thing that made the Republic real in the first place, the thing that made it work, has been dismantled line by line... Is it still there? Have we kept it or has it been stolen away? July 5, 2008 Connecting the dots: The mind-numbing stupidity of GM and the American auto industry by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: All of a sudden GM can produce 40 MPG cars, something they claimed would be impossible to do before 2016 without massive cost increases and technological advances. Has there ever been a more self-destructive company with such fat headed management that survived for so long? July 4, 2008 When all writing is for children by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: In the last stages of "civilization," which we are apparently living through now, all the natural relationships are turned upside down as the culminating result of constant manipulation and perceptual coercion. Status devolves to those with the greatest sponsorship by centers of power that maintain that power by virtue of an ability to coerce compliance. Advancing your personal status in these situations, including one's status as an author, becomes a function of your ability to communicate with a population that is functioning at very low levels of moral and intellectual development for the purpose of inducing compliance with the aims of the sponsoring hierarchical structure, be it employers in mass media, publishers of mass market entertainment or even technical and scientific writing. July 3, 2008 My hope is no longer audacious by Siegfried Lemelson, Unknown News Excerpt: I expect nothing and hope for nothing from [Obama] or the other politicians. They've doomed the U.S. as a whole. Now it is time for individuals to tune out the nonsense and take care of their own personal business in a way that corresponds to the real Reality - and the first step is to find The Truth, discarding The Lies. July 2, 2008 Visualize high-altitude nuclear explosions by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Many horrendous effects would ensue, for sure. But compared to the relentlessly approaching doom from the effects of a runaway industrial culture, climate catastrophe, general famine, resource wars, and what have you, the consequences would be relatively mild, and populations of humans would be allowed to survive on sustainable terms. July 1, 2008 Woke up in opposite world again by MonkeyMan, Unknown News Excerpt: I don't understand why I have to call and register my phone number with a national "no call" registry. I don't want someone, to whom I didn't give my number, to call me. Simple. June 30, 2008 The bleaker things seem, the closer to liberation we come by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The fascist regime that has controlled the US for many decades now has already ignited World War III, but like a fire started in oily rags, for a while it just smolders and smokes. The rest of the world would be fighting back with full force were it not for the specter of nuclear terror wielded by the US and Israel. Zimbabwe, a no-win situation? by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: When you go looking beyond the simplistic mainstream media headlines, you ALWAYS find complexity ... June 29, 2008 We know who did this to America by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: This time the debacle cannot be blamed on a bearded man living in a cave in Afghanistan, but on the voracious greed of Capitalism, whose clean-shaven, smartly dressed devotees have systematically stolen everything not nailed down, and are trying to rent and lease everything else, including America's highways, bridges, ports, etc, — all built and paid for long ago with taxpayer dollars. Where this situation goes and when it ends no-one can say, but one thing is certain: We know who caused it and we should not let them get away with it. June 27, 2008 No news on the cable "news" shows by Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein, Unknown News Excerpt: Half of America is either underwater or on fire or broke, living in their cars and under bridges. The U.S. is a disaster zone and still the cable TV "news" is spending hours and hours and hours giving us partisan opinions instead of actual news. A society of the destitute by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: What strength does a society of the destitute have? How does having a billion people with no money and ten with all the money in the country help society at large? Why are those who amass great amounts of wealth praised while those who scrape by are being admonished or blamed outright for their situation? What will become of us if we continue to stagnate like this? June 20, 2008 Manufacturing scarcity and famine by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Now we call it by fancy names like global capitalism, the Chicago school, privatization, "rationalizing the world economy" and structural readjustment, but all this verbiage is just massively financed propaganda to put a confusing face on the resurgence of criminally depraved greed. I thought we would all die when something like this happened by Kathy Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: It's cold at first, they think it's ash, but as it touches their skin they can feel and see it's black snow. It begins to melt right away as it touches their skin. One person yells out ''Its snowing in August, what's going on?'' June 18, 2008 Who is the master? by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Cynics will say that self-interest will provide the handle to keep us enslaved. I think the cynics are wrong, especially the ones in the pay of the plutocrats to spread defeatism and resignation amongst the people. People CAN wake up from the self-destructive trance that has been induced by the mass media and lying politicians. When we do wake we are an irresistible force. How the ER works by Zachariah Norman, Unknown News Excerpt: If hospitals are the mob they're doing a crap job -- hospitals are closing all around the country for lack of money. There is a real healthcare crisis in this country and it comes down to the way we fund healthcare and the way our legal system treats health care. It isn't from a bunch of mean old doctors trying to nickel and dime old ladies to death. Predatory capitalism eats medicine alive by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The really chilling thing to me is the successful indoctrination of the categories of "patient," "insured" and "case" as creating this sort of us/them barrier that allows denial of the fact of criminal mistreatment. Serial murders at a hospital become a quality of service issue rather than a legal one. Such concepts as "clinical judgement" and "scientific controversy" are marshaled to support treatment that the physician would not submit their mother to (hopefully). June 17, 2008 Hospitals' criminal conduct by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The provision of medical care in the US has become both a matter of gave physical danger (health care is recognized as one of the top causes of death in the US) and financial disaster. Medicare, and insurance in general, create the conditions for this sort of phantasmagoric crime wave by being able to use their power to transfer costs away from those they cover to the weakest, the uninsured and underinsured, who now amount to almost half of the population. June 16, 2008 Medicine is the modern mob by G.B., Unknown News Excerpt: I had (and still have) no insurance, and I was naïvely expecting to pay hundreds, perhaps more than a thousand dollars for that ER visit. Instead the multiple bills added up to more than $7,500. Warnings for progressives/liberals by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: That is just the sort of country the US government will choose to "divide and conquer" -- if they don't just directly invade the country. The article says that one or the other or both have been done in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, China (Tibet), Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Somalia, Sudan, Burma (Myanmar), and Palestine -- these are the ones just since 2000. June 15, 2008 The greatest screwjob ever by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Unlike your usual amoral corrupt corporate chieftains, these crooks have the FBI, the CIA, and all the rest of the alphabet of Federal enforcement organizations, taking orders from them to look the other way while they rob us and countless generations to come of every last thing of value in the country, including our self respect. June 11, 2008 A 'Manhattan Project' for energy alternatives by Juan P., Unknown News Excerpt: We need windmills, nuclear reactors, coal mining, drilling in ANWR and at the beach, yada yada. If we do not do these things then our economy is going to suffer horribly in ten years, if not before. At the very least individuals should begin the process of acquiring solar panels even if the panels are not connected to the grid and just charge batteries. The difference between a little bit of power and zero is monumental. You're gonna want at least lights and a computer when the grid goes dark. Yes, Capitalism has succeeded! by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: Yes, Capitalism has succeeded! It has succeeded in destroying organized labor and the American workplace. It has succeeded in destroying the American dream of home ownership. It has succeeded in destroying the living standards of millions of American families. It has succeeded in ruining the economic well being of the entire Nation for the profit of a very few. Yes, it has once again succeeded in giving us another Great Depression. June 10, 2008 Not more and better, rather less and sufficient by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: On the up side, this will all soon collapse and we will be thrown back on our own resources to survive with what is left in the debris left over from this latest psychotic episode of the powerful. If we can learn from our mistakes we will have the opportunity to build a much better world. June 9, 2008 Debunking the myth of America by Pavel C., Unknown News Excerpt: Americans are just people. We are not "special". We are not more courageous, more virtuous, more right, more honorable, or even better fighters than people in the rest of the world. And we sure aren't any smarter. We are just a gang of people who overran the last-discovered continent on Planet Earth and stripped it bare as quickly as we possibly could. Our mighty endowment of untapped natural resources convinced us of the truth of the myths we created about ourselves. June 7, 2008 Media's coverage of "dry drowning" death was irresponsible by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Part of what pediatricians call "anticipatory guidance" involves warning parents about the dangers of water, the need for very close supervision, and certainly avoiding sending children who have no experience with water swimming. I suspect that this warning was never delivered to this family, as competent, well-trained pediatric care is becoming nearly as rare as competent, ethical journalism. Things could get much better lickity-split by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt: Folks, once we get the crazy people out of the White House and Congress, and re-attach a leash to Israel moneywise, plus put an end to all the warmongering, lots of things could get much better lickity-split. June 5, 2008 Are those Hillary supporters for real? by Aunt Clara, Unknown News Excerpt: More and more I'm hearing really sheer stupidity from people who identify themselves as "Hillary supporters". They're so heartbroken or angry that Hillary didn't win the Democratic nomination, they're talking about voting for John McCain instead. Can you believe that? Scenes from a group Presidency by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt: And lots of things simply cannot be done by a single person, anyway. No matter how expert or strong or fast they are. Or given all the time in the world. One is not just the loneliest number; it's the most helpless, too. June 4, 2008 Coping with people who are bummers by J.P. Smokem, Stoners' Daily Excerpt: Knowing the difference between assholery and sociopathic behavior is essential, and once you begin to recognize the patterns you will be able to steer clear of most bummers in your daily life. The adventures of Don Bush and Sancho Bernanke by Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein, Unknown News Excerpt: A global consensus and coordinated action plan is needed, but that cannot happen with the Bush Regime in office, for the Bushies are global military aggressors and human rights violators on a massive scale. The rest of the world seems perfectly OK with allowing them to self-destruct, even at the expense of a million Iraqis and slow-motion genocide of out of favor groups of brown people. A bit of global inflation seems like a small price to pay, and far cheaper than the military alternative, to force American regime change. June 3, 2008 Fakery by Peter K. Sharpen, Unknown News Excerpt: I am forced to lived with the fake because there is no place elsewhere to go, except my own way as far as possible without the fakery that surrounds me. Most of it I can ignore if I am not available to popular media. The unpopular media I can indulge in as far as I want, then I can just laugh it off. If the worst happens, I have the necessary survival skills, or I am decimated in an instant, amen. The big picture by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Scientific research has revealed that ours is a social species evolutionarily determined by a strategy of cooperation and mutual care, rather than by the ruthless competition that we are now witnessing. The social Darwinist view subscribed to by the dominant elite of the world is not scientific. It is merely self serving propaganda in pursuit of privilege. June 2, 2008 Soon I'll be dead by Grandpa, Unknown News Excerpt: Everything I ever believed in has been completely trashed and the traitors who did this to America are laughing as they get away with it all. But on the bright side pretty soon I'll be dead, and make my way out of here. I'll get to escape the ugliness they've built where the United States of America used to be. You poor suckers are stuck here. June 1, 2008 FDA complicit in Americans' deaths by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt: Drugs sold in America that are "legal" have been known for years to have dangerous and deadly components, and the FDA has done jackshit about it. May 31, 2008 McCain -- Decrepit and diseased by Andrea Z., Unknown News Excerpt: If the GOP can put a pre-corpse like McCain into the White House then anyone could be elected if "The System" decides to make it so. They could put a hamster into office and the national press corps would address it as "Mr. President, Sir." A convoluted Asia Times article & gatekeeping by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: As for why I figure Bush's policy is in tatters, it's because it is based on aggression, lies, ignoring international laws and conventions, torture, shoveling money to Bush's cronies, disregarding the sovereignty of other countries, disregarding the US Constitution, murdering probably a million innocent people, and sending off US soldiers to die or become maimed for the sake of Israel's interests. US gov't wide open to cyber attacks by Amber Perez, Unknown News Excerpt: The U.S. is totally vulnerable to cyberwar, and we've already lost most of our top secret shit. Plus, with the Feds gathering information about U.S. citizens, you can bet that data pirates have access to everything the Feds have. So the only people who are safe are the people who haven't yet been targeted, or who are homeless with nothing to lose. May 29, 2008 McCain v. Obama -- who knows Iraq better? Excerpt: In one of this week's sillier kerfuffles, Republican Presidential candidate John McCain offered to educate Democratic candidate Barack Obama on the realities of the situation in Iraq, by escorting Obama on a visit to that occupied and embattled nation. Obama, of course, declined. Senator McCain has visited Iraq eight times since the occupation began. Senator Obama has visited only once -- but that doesn't mean McCain has an eight times better grip on the realities of Iraq. Crush them completely with whatever is necessary by Chris M., Unknown News Excerpt: You simply cannot deal with fanatics in this manner. In fact you cannot really deal with them at all because they are totally convinced of their correctness and infallibility. There is nothing you can do or say to convince them otherwise. Global labor unions -- someday by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: The main idea is to create international trade unions that are able to “deal with multinational companies on an equal footing and organize working people in even greater numbers.” What unions are recognizing is that “multinational companies are pushing down wages and conditions for workers ... by playing one national workforce off against another.” I will say yes to it all by Sherri B., Unknown News Excerpt: We have silver, gold, guns, and lots of Costco toilet paper. We've got dogs, alarms, and meds to quell the constant, never ending cycle of anxiety to panic back to anxiety. There's a lot of sleeplessness and constant checking of bank balances and 401K's "just in case" because God knows if we walk up to our Bank of America ATM and they say our account is empty when our life savings is in there all hell will break loose. Yet people still trust in the banks. May 28, 2008 About General Petraeus by Eadmund, Unknown News Excerpt: Gen. Petraeus may be lying, but I don't think he is. I think he's right: Iran is financing a good amount of the strife in Iraq because it makes the US look bad; things are turning around in Iraq, albeit slowly; we may be able to leave in a year or two. May 27, 2008 A campaign based on playing the victim by Mel S., Unknown News Excerpt: Hillary Clinton is just remarkably comfortable and at ease with habitually claiming victimhood. The press treated her unfairly, she complains (and her supporters echo). Obama hasn't treated her fairly, she complains (and her supporters echo). Everyone's trying to "push me aside", she complains (and her supporters echo). I'm not sure I know anyone as quick to play the victim, except for some Hillary Clinton supporters. May 26, 2008 America's descent into chaos by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: Regardless of whether the criminal cabal which has seized the Government of the United States proceeds with their intention to expand the war in the Mideast with an attack upon Iran, it is only a matter of time before the Country goes into a full blown depression. Monopoly money by Pavel C., Unknown News Excerpt: I never had a clue what US "money" really was when I was younger, and it is only now after years of study and gameplay that I begin to see the nature of the US money fraud (I am a slow learner but a pit bull once I grasp a concept!). How dare you criticize General Petraeus by Tom D., Unknown News Excerpt: When a military commander lies to the public, and those lies imperil the lives of American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, that is a high crime indeed. That is the daily work of Gen David Petraeus. America has run out of ideas by Chris M., Unknown News Excerpt: It's not that there is no-one out there coming up with good ideas for energy or what not. It's that nobody really cares. The ideas get mentioned in some science publication and then disappear along with the discoverer. Why?? Because whoever he/she is, they still need to put a roof over their heads and food in their mouths and reality sets in and no-one is willing to back them. May 25, 2008 Worries about an Obama assassination by Sherri B., Unknown News Excerpt: She just told me that if Obama was assassinated the world would watch Black people stop killing themselves in the ghettos long enough to cause major havoc and destruction. She also said America would deserve every dead body that was the result of the riots that would ensue from Obama's murder. May 21, 2008 Your lyin' eyes by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: They can cover up a tremendous amount of sh*t, but they have gone too far this time. Even people who don't have internet are starting to figure out they're being shafted. Even people who get all their news from Fox are figuring it out. Even people who don't read, watch, or listen to news are figuring it out! The obvious answer by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: If we succeed in finding justice from a court system that has been systematically corrupted over many years by criminal elements pursuing illegal gain from drugs, stock swindles, embezzlement and misuse of public funds, war profiteering and a host of other crimes, some known, many unknown, then we may be able to avoid a civil war and win back our freedom from this criminally inspired police state non-violently. If, as seems likely, the criminals are so deeply entrenched in power that they can not be removed by peaceful means then the weight of their crimes will inexorably mount until spontaneous concerted action by the vast majority of the robbed and dispossessed population is turned against them, and they are swept into the sewer of history along with the likes of Marcos, Pinochet, Bautista, The Shah of Iran, and the rest of their slimy friends. Nationalism today; and Bush lectures the Arab world by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: In my view, what the corporate elites disillusioned with Bush really want is a “multilateral system” that is really US unilateralism “cleverly packaged to grant other nations just enough slack to prevent them from fighting it [said of the neo-cons in the article].“ To me, what Bush and the neo-cons did was remove the clever packaging which revealed the basic unilateralism at play that other nations DID begin fighting against. May 19, 2008 Unlimited Presidential powers by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt: Whoever the next President is (if a change from Bush-Cheney-McCain and their ilk actually occurs) they will be sorely tempted NOT to roll back the expansion of powers Bush has claimed, and the lapdog Republicans in the House and Senate helped push as far as they possibly could. May 16, 2008 Hezbollah -- important but NOT the rulers by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: So what are Hezbollah's political goals? Are they something really radical? Do they want to change the whole system or the National Pact? There are some in the country who HAVE proposed scrapping the ratios and quotas of seats in the parliament that the National Pact creates and going for “majority rule” as in other countries (which would probably destroy Lebanon and benefit Hezbollah), but Hezbollah's proposals have everything to do with standing behind the current system -- even though it keeps them UNDER-REPRESENTED. May 14, 2008 2009 and beyond by Siegfried Lemelson, Unknown News Excerpt: The overall situation is nearly irreversible because the world already has more than enough US government and agency bonds -- and it is obvious to even the most casual observer that, thanks to the magic of compounding interest, US government and agency debt may never be fully repaid. Their technique is simple: Keep us hating each other by Kathy Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: They hate us all and they would love to see us separated and killing each other. That would make it a lot easier for them, because that would be less of us to feed and deal with... but God help them if we woke up and realized that it was really ALL OF US against ALL OF THEM! They are not counting on that! Heroin economics by Marshall S., Unknown News Excerpt: Illegal drugs are a $500 billion per year business. That's a big chunk of change, in fact more than most corporations gross per year. I don't believe those in charge are weird but colorful, isolated nutcases, like one sees in movies. I think they're very well connected businessmen. ... If the illegal drug business stopped completely, I think the world economy would collapse. May 13, 2008 As soon as you are ready, stop obsessing about politics and all the rest of the hoopla by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: What goes around, comes around. We have cause immense suffering in the world during the brief time that we have existed as a society. Now will come the time of our discontent, and out of that suffering there may yet emerge a society that we can be sincerely proud of participating in. Burma disaster vs. Katrina by Amber Perez, Unknown News Excerpt: The Katrina "response" was pure evil. The evil was not "incompetence" but the deliberate actions taken to magnify the disaster. It was Disaster Capitalism taken to an extreme. Syria & Lebanon -- writing about them is NOT easy by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: Today Syria's interest in Lebanon requires that it stay stable so that the many Syrians working there can continue to do so. The Syrian business community also relies on Lebanese banks. For the Lebanese, 35% of their exports go overland through Syria and an important amount to Syria. Both Syria and Lebanon's biggest trading partner is the EU. May 12, 2008 Mercenaries looking for a few bad men by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: There's a fairly obvious downside to letting potentially unbalanced and ethically challenged hired guns who owe allegiance to their company before their country reside above the law. If there's an upside to giving these companies free reign to regulate themselves and letting them act as a military despite hiring madmen and perverts, I'm just not seeing it. May 11, 2008 Big surprise: Republicans are spreading un-true smears by Max, Unknown News Excerpt: Every single one of these hundreds of emails, ostensibly sent by dozens of different people, all come to my Republican-only email address -- which means they're either being sent by Republican Party workers, or (pretend this is a meaningful difference) Republican Party membership roles are sold, leased, or loaned to people who send these email lies. Can you empathize, do you care? by Underground Panther in the Sky, Unknown News Excerpt: Will you stand up for others, will you act upon the desire to protect the living beings in this world from those who abuse them? Or not? May 9, 2008 Why Hillary won't quit by William M., Unknown News Excerpt: Hillary will remain in the race "until a nominee is selected." Can you guess how the math could work for her? Right. One man, one book depository, one magic bullet. Obama's plane could crash. He could suffer an embolism, fall down and hit his head, commit suicide and leave two goodbye notes like Deborah Jeane Palfrey... He could O.D. on heroin, he could be taken by aliens, he could be outed for something... maybe even something true-ish. Obama might eat a bad burrito, be bitten by a rabid dog, drown in his bathtub, or be hit by lightning! That's how Hillary wins. She hangs in JUST IN CASE. Anything could happen, and Hillary won't leave till the Fat Lady sings, because it ain't over 'till its over! Relentless propaganda on Iran by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: Clearly it is easy for Gen. Petraeus, Sec. Rice, Defense Sec. Gates, and all of those unnamed sources to spew forth their accusations/propaganda against Iran etc. while providing no proof or in the case of the “Syrian reactor” altered/fake pictures (no cooling tower). On the other hand, those of us who care about the truth have to take time to find sources that debunk the propaganda -- AND, I don't mean sources that have to be taken with a grain of salt or LOTS of them, either. So here is what I found. May 6, 2008 None of this seems real by Max, Unknown News Excerpt: Two years into the so-called "Presidential campaign", for the very first time, a matter of actual political policy is being publicly discussed. But even this one policy that's allowed to be discussed is inane beyond belief -- whether to suspend a nearly-nothing gas tax to encourage more driving this summer ... when of course, (a) the proposal is idiotic and accomplishes nothing and (b) the election is scheduled long after summer is over, making the whole discussion even mooter than moot. May 4, 2008 Bush regime rewards incompetent and dysfunctional corporations by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: Imagine a country with countless Paris Hiltons -- millionaires never tested by reality, never forced to dig deep and excel, never offered any incentive to improve. Which is pretty much what we have today: an upper class of wealthy bunglers who have too much time on their hands and want to run for office. Like George W. Bush, our inbred, water-brained, devo chuckle-monkey president. How did we get him? It is as if his father screwed a chimpanzee when the circus came to town! If not for the wealth and power of the Bush-Walker clan, Curious George W. would probably have ended up as an alcoholic, cokehead con-artist used-car salesman with a sub-prime mortgage in foreclosure. Blast from the past: Whip Inflation Now (WIN) by Juan P., Unknown News Excerpt: Or in elementary terms, chum, the price of everything else must now rise if real estate and stock prices are not allowed to fall. Otherwise, real estate would not be economically viable. The audacity (and consequences) of truth by Chris M., Unknown News Excerpt: It took being bombed to rubble for Japan and Germany to finally get over most of their race-based nationalism which the people rallied around for their identity. And it may take the same thing for this country to finally be brought into reality and out of its delusional little bubble of denial. 9/11 was just a shot across the bow. Apr. 30, 2008 Chicken Little saves the world from the Dogs of War by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Meanwhile, ever-greater chunks of sky were falling everywhere, burying cities and towns, and causing great consternation. The Dogs of War, Commerce, Industry and Finance continued to claim that the Terrorist Goats were behind the destruction and that the Illegal Sheep crossing the border were also a big part of the problem. Apr. 29, 2008 Why democracy does not matter right now by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Almost anything that substitutes local sources of goods and services for corporate ones extracts another drop of blood from the beast. It doesn't seem like very much at the time, but every effort to feed, clothe, house and care for ourselves that does not send money toward the center of the exploitive economy are blows that can, when taken cumulatively, weaken the beast to the point of harmlessness. Fox is beating Obama like a gong by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt: Obama can spend $10 million running ads in any given month, but Fox News can blow through that much media time in a day, all devoted to ensuring that Obama doesn't win ... and they can do that day after day after day. So can CNN, MSNBC and CBS. It doesn't matter how much money Obama has, if the corporations decide he shouldn't be nominated. Apr. 28, 2008 Making it harder for the speculators by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: The more prices rise, and big profits are made, the more others invest, hoping for big returns. Look at the financial web sites: everyone and their mother is piling into commodities. ... The trouble is that if you are one of the 2.8 billion people, almost half the world's population, who live on less than $2 a day, you may pay for these profits with your life. Apr. 27, 2008 Next bubble: Food (and other necessary commodities) by Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein, Unknown News Excerpt: Because governments no longer back their currencies with gold, increases in money supplies have resulted over the past several decades, which greatly exceed the growth in planetary production. Therefore, in the years following the implosion of the internet stock bubble and the real estate bubble, both of which had global reach, another bubble was "needed" by the "investors" managing the excess trillions of dollars. Problems & solutions with Yanquis & corporations by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: The European Union has put pressure on and been negotiating with 77 countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Pacific since 2002 to sign on to "Economic Partnership Agreements" (EPAs) -- sanctions were threatened if they didn't sign. In general, this will result in local production in these countries being further exposed to big international corporations. Apr. 25, 2008 Obama's "get out the vote" emails delayed by Enduring in the East, Unknown News Excerpt: Who is Comcast endorsing? Is some other ISP interfering? Is there a mole in the Obama camp? Have aliens messed with our satellite transmissions? Apr. 23, 2008 Endless war for endless profit by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Victory, in this setting, is the last thing desired, as it would mean an end to the flow of profit. Defeat and retreat, likewise, are unthinkable for the same reason. The business plan is endless war for endless profit. Freedom is for brave people, not for farm animals by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: Let's face it, the long and slow decline of America is well deserved. We are ignorant, lazy, fearful sheep who inherited a rich paradise and watched placidly as it was stolen and obliterated. Freedom is for brave people, not for farm animals. Apr. 22, 2008 Which numbers deserve our attention? by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Compassionate people recognize that the suffering that these criminal wars at home in the US is, in turn, dwarfed by the unbelievable suffering that these wars inflict on the people of the Middle East which will also echo down through generation after generation. Apr. 21, 2008 The mote in Hillary's eye by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt: OK, so we know for a fact that Hillary Clinton is a chronic, serial, truth-avoider who lies frequently but is not actually very good at it, at least compared to her husband's skill as fabulousity and prevarication. It's a lie to say it's a mis-statement by Amber Perez, Unknown News Excerpt: Basically, anyone making actual, real-life decisions involving money, property, liberty or happiness would be well advised to ignore television news completely. Even when they are right, they're wrong because their information is so dated that it is nearly impossible to use -- when they say buy houses that means that the richies are selling houses and short-selling banks! Apr. 20, 2008 Without sexism, where would Hillary Clinton be? by Lloyd B., Unknown News Excerpt: Hillary Clinton deserves the respect due any person with six years' experience in politics, with no apparent ideals, with no original ideas of consequence, with a track record supporting an idiotic war, and with a political agenda that can only be described as Hillary Clintonist. There is nothing, absolutely nothing in her life to suggest that she is of anything remotely approaching Presidential stature. A supersized stack of good advice by Pavel C., Unknown News Excerpt: Eventually I realized that I needed to do work for which I already had skills and training, which would, even though I disliked it, pay be some ok money and use my abilities. And that meant moving back to Civilization, or at least, near a big city in California. Apr. 19, 2008 A society that erects pedestals, and digs dungeons by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: All our professions and institutions are now led and controlled by people whose only claim to superiority is their political cleverness and ruthlessness. This is what comes from idolizing wealth and fame, and being influenced by the lies that ambitious people use to entice and confuse us. The way out of the corner is start forming small, local groups where the true character and capacity of the membership can be accurately assessed. Democrats must be cautious by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt: If impeachment were feasible, I think the Democrats would have done it. Their razor-thin Congressional majority though -- diluted still further by Lieberman and a few others -- plus the Republican-dominated Supreme Court, and the Republican-owned mainstream media, would simply make a real impeachment effort on the part of Democrats worse than futile: it would likely help the mainstream media to hand the next election over to the Republicans in a landslide. Apr. 18, 2008 Limbo debate: How low can these candidates go? by Penny Nichols, Unknown News Excerpt: Both Clinton and Obama swore blood oaths not to raise taxes on those making less than $200,000 a year. FYI, that cap works out to $100 an hour. I don't think even Obama has measure the depths of bitterness and rage "out there" if he is considering people who earn $99 an hour "middle class". America has just out-evilled Evil itself by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: Not only does your Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, deign to openly dictate what Iraq's government will do while claiming it tastes freedom for the first time, they now force the Iraqi people to reimburse the military that carpet bombs entire city blocks for the fuel they expend in the process of raining death and terror upon them and have publicly declared that all aid Iraq received after being crushed beneath jack-booted heels was some undeserved kindness. How to destroy a great nation's economy by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt: In a nutshell, this is what the whole country of America has been doing to itself, via outsourcing and miscellaneous other wage depression schemes, for decades now. If we're not yet beyond the point of no return, we sure as hell must be close! Apr. 17, 2008 The destructive power of greed by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Eventually, as we now see, a corporate infrastructure of lobbying and public relations firms, wielding massive budgets for campaign "contributions" and espionage activities, becomes the true governmental power, and proceeds to systematically loot the ostensible governmental tax coffers. Apr. 16, 2008 Less is more, and tarnished is better by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Please spare me from bigger, better, prettier, brighter, quicker, faster, cleaner, cooler, hotter, freer, slimmer, fitter, fancier, trendier and more of anything than I need to get through my day. Apr. 15, 2008 Will America become one huge tent city? by Sherri B., Unknown News Excerpt: Just how close are we to the homeless that we help, but hope like hell we never to have to live their lives? What happens to us, the USA, as a family? Heckuva job, GMie! by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: As with many other things, GM was at an all time high shortly before Bush took office -- up over $90 a share. After 7+ years of our first MBA president, GM is down to $19 a share, and the only reason it is still alive (I'm guessing) is that they're hoping for a government bail-out. OR... the Bush Regime doesn't want to preside over the bankruptcy of General Motors. The new war of independence by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Once we begin to recognize each other as coming from a common humanity, we can begin again to knit together the kind of local communities that were the true motive force in our country's original War of Independence. We will not need to fight pitched battles in order to win this New War of Independence. All that will be needed is to survive the coming tumult and watch the unsustainable structure of oppression self-destruct around us. Motivating more terrorists by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt: Polls show that 6% of the American public thinks attacks in which civilians are targets are "completely justified." In Saudi Arabia, this figure is 4%. In Lebanon and Iran, it's 2%. ... But maybe if we bomb Iran, we can boost bin Laden's popularity over there to match what it is in America. Apr. 14, 2008 Treat Hillary Clinton respectfully by M.M., Unknown News Excerpt: How would you feel if someone treated your mother the way Hillary has been trampled? There is a young woman, who loves her mother, who is watching you and others spit on her. Would you have your own daughters' heart broken that way? Apr. 13, 2008 We are all trapped in The System by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt: This has got to be one of those "crowd think" situations, otherwise known as Monkey See, Monkey Do, but where the monkeys are juggling lit sticks of dynamite. War on porn & attacking Hillary Clinton by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: Once somebody gets it in their head that something is offensive to them, they get the urge to purge it from the face of the Earth and to Hell with anyone who doesn't share that sentiment. I get the idea that there are things we should shield are kids from but isn't this, y'know... stupid? Apr. 12, 2008 Atlas shrugs, again by Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein, Unknown News Excerpt: A few parasites are tolerable, but if the entire system is covered with heart worms, ticks, lice, bedbugs, viruses and oozing wounds, then no-one profits. And at that point, Atlas shrugs, and goes into self-defense mode, saving itself. Addressing the sub-prime crisis with pure BS by Chris M., Unknown News Excerpt: This is all after the fact BS that sounds politically good but really does little to help. Someone needs to watch The Grapes of Wrath again and pay attention this time. Apr. 11, 2008 Pukeworthy: Democrats blame Bush for Iraq quagmire by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt: Democrats appear to have voted for continuing the war because they were afraid of being branded pacifist, isolationist, bin Laden-loving Defeatocrats. ... The Democrats are manipulative cynics in this battle, who purposely allowed America to be degraded to advance their own selfish ambitions for power and wealth. We expect that of Republicans and are not surprised. Of the Democrats many expected more ... Apr. 10, 2008 Gen. David H. Petraeus -- stupid or a liar by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: There is competition between those ethnic Americans and Britons and the Iraqis over who controls Iraq and its resources. Sometimes the Americans and the British bomb and attack the Shiites and sometimes the Sunnis, and sometimes the Arabs and sometimes the Kurds. Apr. 9, 2008 America has been completely punked by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: One of the very painful realities that we will need to confront as we wake up to the consequences of our stupidity, is that we will need to abandon the stories that we have become accustomed to hearing about ourselves. Our enemies are not from abroad, not from somewhere far away, but live in our own communities. With some exceptions that need to be carefully proven, our enemies are those of us who have become rich while the rest of us have been becoming progressively poorer. Two rocks out of the ground by M.M., Unknown News Excerpt: I realize now that a female candidate will always be too young or too old, too tall or too short, not pretty enough or too pretty. Men continue to visit all of their fear and insecurity onto women's bodies. We continually receive the message that a woman is incomplete without a man. We're looking at World War III by Nan R., Unknown News Excerpt: Lacking any ability to defend itself from an American attack, Iran will do the next best thing (from its perspective): It'll launch missiles at Israel. ... Israel, of course, has nuclear weapons, and for all the propaganda about Iran's insane leadership, Israel's leadership is more obviously certifiable, and might well be willing to face the blowback -- literally and metaphorically -- from using nukes. Apr. 8, 2008 After the fighting in Basra + more US lies by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: As for there being Iranian fighters in Iraq, as The Times of London reports US Gen. David Petraeus will say to Congress, Cole says that there have been Iranian pilgrims going to the sacred Shiite shrines, but the pilgrims have been recalled home and the pilgrimages halted. Cole adds that "a handful may have gotten caught up in the fighting," but for Iran to send Iranian troops or agents into Basra to undermine Iraqi government forces "on behalf of the Sadr Movement just strikes me as daft. It flies in the face of everything else we know about the relationship of these groups with Iran." Bottom-line thinking sinks North American economies by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: We have more money but we get less out of it. Essentials are more expensive to buy. Food, clothing, medicine are all made at the lowest cost for the highest return; cheaply produced but expensive to buy. Services such as healthcare are poorly managed and the coverage of those services tends to suffer as cost becomes the bottom line rather than a patient's health. When it gets down to it the workings of our society make it so that we have little time to ourselves and even less time to enjoy it causing our physical and mental health to deteriorate quicker. We spend a lot of time trying to convince ourselves we have it better. Maybe it's about time we drop the ego and look at our lives objectively. No-one wants Monopoly money in real life by Chris M., Unknown News Excerpt: The Fed knows, as does everyone else on Wall Street, that not only is the party nearly over, but there is a chance the building will be condemned as well. They are playing Monopoly without buildings or properties and very little money, trying to con the guy next to them and hoping no-one finds out what is really going on. Apr. 7, 2008 We are all insurgents at heart by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The truth is that if you want to fight a whole people, the only possible avenue to "Victory" is total, or near total, genocide, such as was pursued in the American Indian Wars. It is a mark of social progress that such openly genocidal campaigns of conquest have become unacceptable to the conscience of the world. Now, aims of conquest must be pursued covertly under the cover of "bringing democracy" or "fighting terrorism." Apr. 6, 2008 Congress has a new deal ... for corporations by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: The more we spend on the military and police state the less secure the country is, and the sooner the police state will collapse. I believe China is more free now than America. They are certainly more capitalistic than we are. Apr. 5, 2008 Rockefellers and Bushes, Nixons and Kissingers by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The only real significant player in the drama is the sleeping giant of the mass of ordinary people. As long as they keep taking the soporific of material dependency on concentrations of power the story line is stuck. We are on the verge of the point in the story where the giant wakes. That is the drama. Apr. 4, 2008 Grass roots censorship by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Freedom of speech is fundamental. It is like the musculature of a free society. If we don't use it, we lose it. As controversy becomes more frightening, and speaking your mind becomes more of a risk, it becomes more important for ordinary citizens to exercise the right of speaking our minds forthrightly and cogently. So what if arguments ensue? At least the right to argue has been defended. Garbage in, garbage out by JR Mooneyham, Unknown News Excerpt: Previous Republican-dominated Congresses usually resisted or defied Republican Presidents on at least some matters of importance. But not the last bunch: instead, they marched in a Nazi-like lockstep on practically every issue with the President. The most difference they ever displayed was saying something in opposition in public -- but then turning around and doing exactly what Bush wanted in legislation. Just the facts, ma'am by Z, Unknown News Excerpt: When you add these incredibly fraudulent rip-offs to the fact that the highest levels of the Bush Regime ordered torture against all international law -- laws which the US itself used to hang Germans and Japanese after WWII -- the conclusion must be that our government is run by a criminal syndicate, like the Mafia except they control the whole country, including the money and secret police. Apr. 1, 2008 Who benefits from US-style 'capitalism'? by Rob L., Unknown News Excerpt: The gap between rich and poor has grown bigger each year, and our unions are a pale shadow of their former selves. Who benefits? Not me. Mar. 31, 2008 The "news" is not news at all by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Come the inevitable collapse of the world's economy, as it succumbs to the ravages of parasites, the only news that will matter is what is happening in your neighborhood as you struggle to survive. In many ways that will be a healthier cognitive environment. Nothing undermines health like a steady diet of lies. Moqtada al-Sadr, the fighting in Basra, & oil by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: This site called the Iraq Oil Report in its Mar. 28, 2008 report offers some interesting info that isn't usually discussed -- in particular, one important explanation for the recent fighting by the al-Sadr Mahdi Army resistance group (Shiite Iraqi nationalists AGAINST the break up of Iraq, against Iranian involvement, and against the foreign takeover of their still nationalized oil) versus the "collaborator" Shiite Iraqi forces sent in by Prime Minister al-Maliki to Basra (Iraq's second largest city & key oil hub). Al-Maliki is backed by the Badr organization (that includes former Iraqi exiles in Iran) and the Kurdish Coalition. US and British forces are providing backup planning and air strikes. Clearly, the emphasis in the report is on Iraq's oil, but the details matter. ... Making money the old fashioned way: Smart friends by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: If West Virginia were a rich state then houses would cost more, but it isn't so they don't. Even with the US dollar so cheap, how many Germans want to invest in Charleston fixer-uppers? Mar. 30, 2008 An economy that takes from its people and gives nothing back by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: All the ideals behind Capitalism were centered around the self-employed and small time businesses. Competition, diversity, and the so-called free market are all much more effective on smaller scales. Mar. 28, 2008 The latest Bush administration bull: Social Security's is "unsustainable" by Spud Packard, Unknown News Excerpt: Social Security faces a 4.3 trillion dollar unfunded liability over the next 75 years? BIG F**KING DEAL. George W. Bush blew through 5 trillion in just 7 years, increasing the actual national debt from under $5 trillion to almost $10 trillion. Mar. 27, 2008 Warnings from an ancient past by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The bad news is that the niche that humans occupy, that of the intelligent, tool-using terrestrial animal, will most likely be filled again by evolution, leading to a likely replay of our mistakes. The good news is that we can attempt to warn such a future intelligent species and perhaps end this cycle of intelligent self-destruction before it starts again. Our main enemy is our willingness to pursue fantasies by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Taking control of our lives back from the fascists will likely not be a pretty process, but imperfect starts toward self-reliance are what we will need to depend on to get the process off the ground. Sensory overload by Sherri B., Unknown News Excerpt: It is strange for me that this is the first time that I ever noticed how people can get so lost and confused. It is not strange to see how easily media can be used to frighten, circumvent plans, confuse, and downright mislead those that fight the good fight. Mar. 25, 2008 The solution is in the people's hands by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: A neighborhood group could, for instance, try to establish a neighborhood clinic that works on a cash only basis. Such a group could elicit support from the large number of uninsured and underinsured who would sign up as potential patrons of such a clinic. Just a few thousand folks willing to state their intent to patronize such a non-profit, cash only clinic, and willing to contribute a small membership fee to get things moving, could end up providing for their own medical care in a remarkably short time. On hair-trigger alert by The Canadian, Unknown News Excerpt: The big question is this: will Iran/Syria pull the trigger via their proxy army or will they simply use the threat of war to achieve a measure of protection to sustain their domestic political and nuclear agendas? Mar. 23, 2008 Come the revolution by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Modern technology has armed the forces of oppression to degrees that surpass understanding. But be reassured. With every increased measure of oppression, the pressure for change grows exponentially in reaction. Have faith that the rear guard actions of the system will eventually cause it to crumble in a sudden and spectacular ways. Blood-sucking Wall Street parasites by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: If we reject the idea of being exploited by some Wall Street moneychanger who compares our existence upon the face of this Earth to some commodity like toilet paper or garbage bags, then it is time to begin the process of removing their poison from our economic and our political body. Mar. 22, 2008 Ass-clowns in Wonderland by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt: Is it really good public policy to have millions of people homeless, without jobs or healthcare while homes sit empty and work remains undone? The color of global oppression is in shades of white by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Racism is a very personal issue and needs our personal ground truth involvement to beat it back. To the extent that we are willing to be fully human, we need to accept the realities of the suffering of all our brothers and sisters. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Trillions of reasons to be optimistic by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt: At the end of all this, Americans will be hungry and organized, which is a scary combination! I think this is inevitable, because we will have oodles of Experience. We will have seen the worst, most depraved atrocities of the people in government and on Wall Street, and we will be highly motivated to reclaim what is ours -- not just our freedom, wealth, privacy and self-respect, but our country! Maybe even the stars. Mar. 21, 2008 On the up side of this disaster by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Vision is important. No vision, no future. Realism is also important. No realism, no survival. Mar. 18, 2008 A modest proposal for the immodest problem of a failing health care system by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: We have a choice. We can wait for politics to reform itself and solve the problem of declining access to our current system of health care and its declining quality, or we can get to work introducing practical solutions on the community level. I submit that waiting for the political system to reform itself is an untenable approach. My proposal, or some other proposal that links patients and providers in a mutually beneficial and ethical way, will be needed to circumvent our current paralysis. Mar. 15, 2008 One last heads-up on the US economy by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: The fate of Western Civilization is at stake, and it is reasonable to suppose that Europe, and Japan at least, will come to our aid in this time of crisis. But the President has burned every bridge, and there are valid reasons to suppose that right- thinking allies see this as a perfect time to de-fang and defenestrate a hyper-powerful country that has turned fascist and gone horribly wrong! Mar. 12, 2008 America's just deserts by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: When, as shortly will be demonstrated, America lapses into a condition of abject suffering, similar to what our government has helped impose on so many people of the world, no tears will be shed by the rest of the world in the telling of the tale. We will be seen as suffering our just deserts -- first living high on crime and then reduced to the gutter by our excesses. We will be lucky if we can scrape together the price of the drugs we feel we will need, to continue to self-treat our despair. People have just stopped giving a damn by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: From what I've witnessed, people have come to accept almost anything one human being says or does to another as normal behavior at first glance, and are too wrapped up in our own lives to stop and take another look. You see people arguing, it's normal. Even as they start uttering threats, it's just a couple of people yelling at each other. It's normal. Mar. 9, 2008 Dragon-free and peaceful by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: In a galaxy far, far away there was a nation that used some pet dragons to win a great war with evil. They pampered and fed these dragons in perpetual gratefulness for their survival. Thedragons grew and multiplied until the upkeep of the dragons sapped the strength of that nation ... This train's called Economic Disaster and it has no brakes by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: After the smoke of the economic train wreck clears, we will see our hard fought for standard of living considerably diminished. Mar. 8, 2008 On the verge of utter economic collapse: A suspicion, a guess, a fear, a hope and an idea by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: There will be blood on the streets as millionaires push and shove through the crowd to the dollar exit doors. There will probably be one final insane selling climax and then Fox/CNBC/MSNBC will shout "Fire!". That will be the sign that the rich people will soon be reversing the money flows to buy up US properties on the cheap -- like real estate, bonds and stocks that were abandoned during the hysterical rush to flee the burning theater. Naturally, Joe-Sixpack will be selling dollars at the precise, multi-decade bottom -- and will then hold fast waiting for a final collapse, which will not be allowed to occur by The Powers That Be. Mar. 6, 2008 Conspiracies, secrecy, and radical honesty by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: In today's world, the rational person is forced to fly blind most of the time, and can have very little confidence in their perceptions of the day as they will likely be shown to be in error in light of future revelations. Consequently I believe with certainty very little of what I see, and not very much of what I think. Clinton's politics of personal destruction by Mariah G., Unknown News Excerpt: Between the Who You Gonna Call At 3 AM ad, and her disparagement of Barack in favor off McCain's and her own grandiose foreign policy experience, etc., etc., Clinton has severely damaged her own party for the general elections. If she manages to get the nomination under these circumstances a lot of people will end up voting for McCain. Mar. 5, 2008 A bull market in schadenfreude by Granville's Hammer, Unknown News Excerpt: The newest bubble, aside from oil and gold, is Schadenfreude. You don't hear it much on CNBC or MSNBC, but the average person is delighted when informed of the horrors befalling their corporate tormentors. It is glorious to see bankers and financiers forced to beg for scraps. Payback is a bitch! And this isn't just any payback. This is Payback With Compounded Interest. Mar. 3, 2008 This week in the Class War by JS Magruder, Unknown News Excerpt: If you've grown up in the era of celebrities performing public charity, it is difficult to translate that back down to a person-to-person level. Pretty soon we all think we should have a camera there to applaud us for our generosity-or a publicly displayed plaque, mention in a newsletter, and so on. Mar. 2, 2008 America can't compete in even the simplest of industries by Granville's Hammer, Unknown News Excerpt: Mostly, as far as I can tell, the rules, regulations and laws are used to punish enemies of the state and are applied only when there is an agenda in action (having nothing to do with food safety.) So I don't know what good it does for us to even have the USDA and FDA if they only regulate American producers. Mar. 1, 2008 It all makes sense if you think like a sociopath by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: I can hardly wait for the dust to settle on this destructive process, since I hope to still be alive when the evildoers who control our country lose interest and leave for greener pastures or, hopefully, their just desserts. Left to ourselves, I believe we can institute real democracy and popular control and make a decent, if poor, life from the wreckage the sociopathic gangsters leave behind. A "threat" to pull out of NAFTA? by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: If you believe that bullshit about NAFTA being a mutually beneficial trilateral agreement to lower tariffs and facilitate fair competition with equal terms to all three countries, then you're sorely mistaken. Feb. 29, 2008 Dollar disaster by Arnie V., Unknown News Excerpt: Unless the US government goes cold-turkey on currency debasement and resource squandering activities, the middle and lower-class people in the economic food chain are going to be making soup from shoe leather. Not all need drown as America sinks by Kathy Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: The lifeboats are few but the swimmers are strong. They will survive because they have a fight left in them. Small numbers will say no and they might die saying no -- but they will not go passively without some noise. Defiance is the birth pain of revolution. Feb. 28, 2008 The blessings of diversity in the pursuit of liberty and survival by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The changes that we are about to be forced to deal with as a species will be sudden -- and catastrophic. The groups that survive will be those that retain the greatest degree of diversity of behavioral and perceptual styles, those most able to innovate in the face of change. Feb. 25, 2008 Righteous karmic payback for banks by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: Thousands, maybe millions of home owners can legally fight and win against bank foreclosures by merely asking in court that the bank produce the actual proof that they own the loan. Cases are being thrown out all over the country. Protecting children from the horror of giving a damn by JS Magruder, Unknown News Excerpt: The thing that will drive me to civil disobedience will be some smug son-of-a-bitch telling me I can't perform the Works of Mercy. That's where I get radicalized. I'm going to feed the hungry. I'm going to give drink to the thirsty. I'm going to clothe the naked. I'm going to visit the imprisoned. I'm going to care for the sick. I'm going to bury the dead. And if that's going to be civil disobedience, then fine, count me in. Vote for Nader as a protest against the status quo! by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: Unlike the candidates of the Democratic and Republican Party, Nader tells it like it is. Despite the enthusiastic rhetoric of hope and change coming from the lips of the mainstream candidates, the only change we the people will see is the small change we have left in our pockets after this new gang of thieves get done bailing out their benefactors on Wall Street. Feb. 23, 2008 Clinton is delusional, while Obama is Cool Hand Luke by Cindy A., Unknown News Excerpt: Hillary Clinton is delusional. No clue. Or just lying about her plans, which is equally likely. Or both. She seems to think that she will be ruling the world once she reaches the Oval Office. Didn't she get the memo? Bush screwed that up permanently. The US is no longer Number One. Feb. 22, 2008 Greed is the problem with US medical care by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The problems of medical care in the US are complex and hard to understand, but the cause is easy to identify: greed by the corporate influences that are picking over the corpse of US medical care. This is the reason why US medicine is falling rapidly behind all other industrialized countries and many poorer ones as well. Feb. 20, 2008 What exactly is 'power to the people'? by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: It mostly means getting over the millennia of propaganda produced by coercive organizations that served to have us believe that we are inherently weak and dependent on remote authority for our survival. That was never true, is not now true, and will never be true. When we decide to band together in cohesive local units and act cooperatively with other such units for mutual support and protection, nothing is more powerful. Feb. 18, 2008 Criminal conduct, plain and simple by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: We know who is trying to kill us and our children, and their children. It is our job to stop them, not their responsibility to stop committing crimes. Feb. 15, 2008 Unbelievable sh*t is about to happen by Mr. Chuckles, Unknown News Excerpt: Bernanke, Paulson and BushCo will trash the Treasury and economy before they leave office, so people want to get rid of their Ameribucks, which are a global joke currency now. Feb. 14, 2008 Mughniyeh's assassination bodes ill by The Canadian, Unknown News Excerpt: In my opinion this assassination is analogous to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo in 1914, which lit the fuse for the Great War or what later became known as WW1. Israel is on high alert all over the world and especially along the Lebanese border. Feb. 9, 2008 Teetering on collapse by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: In the vacuum that will result from the collapse of centralized authority, decentralization and reorganization around the basic needs of local communities and relying on local resources will likely generate different, more egalitarian, more ecological institutions designed by the people that participate in them. Feb. 8, 2008 As the Empire folds in on itself by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Certainly I will shed no tears for the passing of the insane way of life that we have been forced to depend on, almost no matter what happens. And I do expect to see this in my lifetime. Feb. 7, 2008 Why the current election "fever" is so disgusting by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: The illusion of democratic government is so overwhelming that most people have a hard time coming to grips with the reality that our country is totally controlled by a small set of hugely wealth families and their foreign friends and that our national elections are just shams. Packaged as a sort of professional sport, our elections serve only to dull the mind and suspend real critical judgement. Feb. 6, 2008 Helpless and grieving by Gina Dee, Unknown News Excerpt: A thousand times I have searched myself for an answer I could understand. I cursed myself. I was angry with myself and then angry that I felt that I thought my self so important that I SHOULD have made this NOT happen. Who am I to think I have such power as that? 12 steps to liberation by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: I pledge that, having become aware of the importance of community to my physical, emotional and spiritual health, I will seek to influence others to abandon the individualistic, self-seeking path to slavery and seek community for themselves and all others, so that we can all begin to live in peace, harmony and abundance without need to resort to aggression, selfishness, lying and deceit. Feb. 3, 2008 Curiouser and curiouser by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: I've checked -- the cables that reach Iran are NOT any of the severed ones. The cables to Iran DO come from the affected Gulf states, though, so they could be experiencing problems. Feb. 1, 2008: State of the Union vs. Sermon on the Mount by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Torture is what the executive says it is and even admitted torture can be used when the executive wants, meaning that executive power supersedes and can ignore any common understanding of decency ... Jan. 31, 2008: The dreams of the oppressed by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: To the extent that we remain asleep and dreaming, disconnected from the reality of consequences of our dreaming, then we are indeed lost. To the extent that we are willing to wake up and look upon our dreams with compassion and a degree of self-deprecating humor, we can choose those to dream those dreams that actually serve the interests of ourselves in the broader context of the rest of humanity, and the rest of life on earth, and achieve a sustainable life that is full of the vividness of both joy and sorrow. Jan. 28, 2008: The Devil's Political Dictionary by Chris M., Unknown News Excerpt: Liberal: An upper middle class white person who exhibits a conscience when it is not personally inconvenient. Likes Blacks, Asians, Latinos and other minorities son long as they think, act, talk, dress and behave like upper middle class white people. Jan. 27, 2008: Bush-Democrat tax rebates: Worse than Guantanamo by Lee C., Unknown News Excerpt: This is actually worse than Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib because it demonstrates soulless disregard of our very own citizens. And it convicts not just George Bush but Congress itself, especially the Democrats, who couldn't vote YES fast enough. Jan. 26, 2008: Connecting the dots and finding bad cops by Lon Garm, Unknown News Excerpt: Just for grins I decided to run a Google News search for officer arrested OR sentenced OR indicted OR jailed (bearing in mind that the diligent researcher would repeat the search, substituting various synonyms such as "cop", "sheriff", "deputy", "agent", etc.). Only 30,000 hits came up for the most recent 30 day period, and of those, at most 30% involved officers being arrested etc. instead of doing the arresting. Jan. 25, 2008: It begins in your heart by Hazel Burke, Unknown News Excerpt: It is all OK, whether you live for an eon or a day, because it is always just one day -- each day. And when you find or re-find your True Heart, when you remember your true desires again, you will also find true allies, of good and true heart to join you. That is the way to win... everything: It begins in your Heart. Threatening national suicide by Chris M., Unknown News Excerpt: This is the very thing the powers that be are afraid of, to their bones. This is why they will go to any lengths to prop it up. Even threatening national suicide. Not an attack on out country per se, but an attack on our financial and business sectors. Jan. 24, 2008: To obey, or not to obey by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: To obey, or not to obey: that is the question / Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The neo-cons, Cheney, and Bush / Or to take arms against a sea of problems / And, by opposing, end them? Jan. 21, 2008: Why people still waste their time is a mystery to me by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: In every election for the last thirty-five years, Americans have voted for candidates who promised to act in their behalf, but all that the American voter has gotten are empty promises, empty pockets, and a mountain of debt. Jan. 21, 2008: No-one forces you to buy junk by Kathy Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: Be a citizen first and then a cautious consumer second. You empower yourself when you hold on to your money and think before you spend. Bottom line? You! You send a message to the CHEAP LABOR CROWD when you refuse to buy unsafe products, and be a part of the corruption you say you're so opposed to. Jan. 18, 2008: On the comfort of blaming the victims by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: To whatever extent we are able to salvage something after this criminal carnival (that the home loan scam is just a small part of) burns itself out, our success will depend on our ability to separate the sheep from the goats in our perception of what happened, and a willingness to extend our sympathy and help to those in our society that have been victimized the most. Jan. 17, 2008: Going down by Kathy & Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: No-one forced people into equity loans and second mortgages. They loved the idea that they could use their homes as credit cards for vacations and lavish home improvements and yes new cars... No-one forced people to sign on the dotted line on a RISKY subprime loan. People believed what they wanted to believe when they were not asked to put down how much money they made or told not to worry, alarms should have gone off in their heads warning them if it does not feel right or sound right, don't sign. Jan. 16, 2008: On the dominance of the clever by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: This country began in an atmosphere of mistrust of authority, an unwillingness to bend the knee to one's "betters," and a collective commitment to preventing destructive concentrations of power. But now, our obedience to authority has gotten us to this spot. Jan. 14, 2008: There's big money in poverty by JS Magruder, Unknown News Excerpt: We seem to be (as a nation) suffering a collective case of misplaced hostility. It isn't the poor taking your money. It isn't the immigrant family down the street taking your job. Your jobs were sent abroad by the people representing you in Washington. Your taxes are torturing and killing people the world over. Your hard-earned money is funding the building of more prisons to house petty criminals, and for the police helicopter looking for God only knows what. The people who are making you work longer hours for less pay aren't the poor asking for change on a street corner. The poor didn't jack up your credit card rates to what any other country in the world would consider usury. The guy sitting on the park bench with everything he owns in the world stuffed into a paper bag, with maggot-infested unhealed flesh wounds -- that guy didn't sell you the interest-only mortgage. Go ahead, pat yourself on the back for walking past him as though he didn't exist and make you feel better by mumbling about "services being available." Jan. 8, 2008: I'm afraid of writing this by Chris D., Unknown News Excerpt: Security will be tightened at US bases abroad in ways that disregard or even threaten local governments and international law, followed by the outright annexation of the countries that contain them. The UN at that point will have had enough and launch economic sanctions against the US for the first time. The US will respond militarily and open war will break out. A reign of unbridled and incomparable terror will encompass the globe not at the hands of Islamic extremists but at the hands of the one true rogue nation. (Sorry, I call 'em as I see 'em.) Jan. 6, 2008: Deconstructing the "brand name" al-Qaeda® by Marie K., Unknown News Excerpt: Has al-Qaeda® been a label that is useful for the US government and other governments that also use it? First, it aids countries interested in gaining greater control over their own citizens given those governments' claiming to be "protecting" them as they take away their rights. It has also been useful for governments that carry out false flag operations and arrest Muslims worldwide -- perhaps for more "bounty monies" or some other benefit. It could also come in handy if there is a second type of al-Qaeda® made up of CIA/other intelligence agencies' agents who serve as infiltrators and agents sent to entrap people. Surviving the Great Depression of 2008 by Leon Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: Just think of it, the Great Depression of '08 deluxe refrigerator carton will not only keep you and yours dry, but will bring all your family members closer together, just like the old days. ... Jan. 5, 2008: The US is being scuttled by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: Unfortunately, in these sorts of situations there cannot be a happy ending. The best we can hope for, in the wake of decades of accepting a false understanding about the politics of our country, is a very painful transition from pride to punishment. Jan. 4, 2008: The end of a nightmare of delusion by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News Excerpt: This episode of species insanity that is coming to an end has been based on the willingness of individuals to remain as children, to forego advancement to adult status, to arrest our intellectual and moral development for the sake of being part of an ever larger collective where only a few individuals are allowed to assume adult roles. What is not growth is death. We have chosen to see to the growth of our dominator cultures by virtue of piling heaps of our own corpses on a bonfire that keeps fewer and fewer of us warm. Jan. 2, 2008: Know that you are being lied to by Zebra, Unknown News Excerpt: By spreading the manure real thick "they" create the necessary uncertainty in enough peoples' minds to prevent mass action that would destabilize their next scams. Jan. 1, 2008: My Marxist friends always make sense! by Kathy Fisher, Unknown News Excerpt: Now they lie again and say they are fight TERRORISM. No, it's more conquest. More stealing other nations resources. It's capitalism with a big jackbooted helping of in your face Fascism.