Netanyahu: A second Chance.....

But at what? Destruction or peace? Sorry, it is hard for me to trust anyone who would throw his lot in with the religiously insane of the U.S.A.

The new Israeli government led by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu has raised many conflicting feelings among those concerned about the fate of the Arab-Israeli peace process. Will Netanyahu scuttle the little progress that was made under his predecessor Olmert, or will he engage the Palestinians anew? Questions about whether he will resume negotiations with Syria, how he will tackles Iran's nuclear threat, and if he will get along with President Obama remain unanswered. Yet given the right political environment created by the Obama administration and supported by the leading Arab states and the Palestinians, Netanyahu has the potential to advance the peace negotiations significantly, and may end up surprising everyone in the process.

On the positive side, those who know him well suggest that Netanyahu has matured considerably since he was first prime minister (1996-1999). He is well aware that he may never be given another opportunity as prime minister and that he now stands before an historic crossroad. Netanyahu understands the requirements for peace from being at the negotiating table many times before. He appreciates the Israeli public sentiments and is certainly not oblivious to what the Obama administration expects from any Israeli prime minister at this juncture in a region laden with multiple crises. Moreover, the eyes of the international community are fixed on him and he is only too aware of the burden he has just assumed and the limited time he has to demonstrate sound policies. Netanyahu has said he wants peace with security for his country. He argues for strengthening the Palestinian economy and engaging in the peace process, while not excluding making progress on the Syrian front. Iran still poses the largest security threat to Israel, and Netanyahu insists that it must be neutralized.

There is nothing from his tough campaign rhetoric that precludes the establishment of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. While the appointment of the right-wing Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister may have signaled to many a shift away from any peacemaking efforts, it is likely that Netanyahu will use Lieberman strategically for his tough rhetoric to satisfy the more hawkish Israeli constituency. When it comes down to the bargaining table though, once Netanyahu feels he has an honest shot at peace with security he will not let Lieberman get in his way. Persuading Labor to join his coalition government and Ehud Barak as his Defense Minister also shifts the balance of power toward moderation. His coalition may well signal that the future peace process will be anchored in tight security arrangements, and that he and Barak can offer the toughness and leverage needed to secure such a peace. Netanyahu and Barak are capable of negotiating simultaneously with both Syria and the Palestinians. Though the peace negotiations with the Palestinians will be painstaking and take much longer to conclude, a steady progress can still be made aggressively while pursuing the Syrian track.

Alternatively, left to his own ideological convictions and without American pressure, Netanyahu can easily retreat back to his old ways. Palestinian disunity and internal struggle within the Arab states will make finding a partner for peace extremely difficult. He will likely expand the settlements, respond harshly to Hamas' violent provocations, and focus exclusively on Iranian threats while relegating the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to the back burner. He might even ignore Syria's overtures for peace, especially because Damascus is not in a position to regain the Golan by force. It is possible Netanyahu will only attempt to pay lip service to the Obama's political agenda in the Middle East, and will cooperate only on matters of national security.

These are the two sides to Netanyahu, though they are not necessarily contradictory. He can lean either direction depending on the level, intensity and consistency of the American involvement not only in trying to mediate an Israeli-Palestinian peace but engaging all other regional players in conflict resolution. To enlist Netanyahu as a partner for peace, President Obama must be specific and clear about what must and can be done to advance the peace process while addressing Israel's main national security concerns, starting with Iran.

The Obama administration needs to heavily cooperate with Israel over Iran's nuclear program, and must demonstrate greater sensitivity to Israel's concerns over this existential threat. Whereas a diplomatic course with Tehran must be fully explored by the US, it must commence immediately so that any possible resolution to the nuclear impasse can be found within 2009, a timeframe that is considered safe before Israel contemplates taking matters into its own hands.

While President Obama must support Netanyahu's plan to build a strong economic base for the Palestinians, he must at the same time insist that a political progress is also being made especially in the West Bank. In that connection, George Mitchell and the Obama administration must be clear with Netanyahu that all illegal outposts are dismantled and a temporary freeze on all settlement activity is enforced. These actions have almost no security implications for Israel, but they create conditions that must exist for the Palestinians and Arab states to take the negotiations seriously.

As Mr. Obama recently embraced the Arab Peace Initiative when he met with the Saudi King Abdullah in London, he must now lean heavily on the leading Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria as well (now that Washington and Damascus are talking) to exert whatever pressure necessary on Hamas to moderate and join the political process. They must resolve now to rein in Hamas and establish a Palestinian unity government with the Palestinian Authority that can speak in one voice. Moreover, the Obama administration must take every measure necessary to prevent future smuggling of weapons to Gaza. Otherwise, as long as Hamas has weapons and continues to violently resist Israel's existence, it will provide Netanyahu with a valid excuse to freeze the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

President Obama must also openly call on Netanyahu to put the Israeli-Syrian negotiations on the fast track and be prepared to become directly involved in the process. By engaging Syria, the Obama administration can re-contextualize the peace process and give it the comprehensiveness that has been lacking. Peace between Israel and Syria is within reach and could have broad regional security implications serving both the United States' as well as Israel's national security interests. Moreover, without Israeli-Syrian rapprochement, the task of dealing with Iran will be simply insurmountable.

To be sure, Netanyahu knows that this is his second and likely final chance to advance the Arab-Israeli peace process, but he is not prepared to undermine Israel's legitimate national security concerns for the sake of claiming the peace. As long as President Obama discerns those genuine national security issues and addresses them effectively with Netanyahu, he may find the new Israeli Prime Minister a willing partner for sustainable peace.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

We Are Back

After taking a few months of well deserved rest, when not working on some projects we put off due to time restaints during the political season and the campaign for Obama, we are back. 

In the meantime, we have added a new blog to our Pelican family of blogs: Independent Light can be found at http://independentlight.blogspot.com

Thank You Congressman Kucinich!

If his remarks are mentioned at all on the TeeVee News or in what passes for a free press in the U.S., it will be a small miracle. If this patriot's words are mentioned, we can all bet there will be some right-wing nut job like Pat Buchanan to inform us that Kucinich is a left-wing loon and must therefore be ignored and, of course, Congress will do just that, and at their own peril I'm afraid.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that this speech was made on March 15, 2007. Not much has changed since then on the Justice front, except we now have Barack Obama close to being in the White House and a larger Democratic majority in the House and a narrower one in the Senate. Still the issue of war crimes committed or ordered to be committed at the highest levels of our government hangs over our collective heads like the sword of Damocles.

If these illegal acts are allowed to stand with no one in this appallingly corrupt, murderous administration held accountable, our laws are absolutely useless, unless they are used in some perverse way to oppress activists' rights to free speech and to subvert the rights of the so-called minority for 6 of the 8 years Bush/Cheney occupied the White House and their enablers held majorities in both the House and the Senate and who refused to do any real oversight. By the election of 2006, the damage was done.

I've heard some say that it would be political suicide for Obama's Justice Department to bring those in the Bush administration who are guilty of International crimes, as well as domestic crimes against the people of America and our Constitution. I certainly understand why Obama would rather not spend his time on holding this bunch accountable. He might well lose in 2012.

I'm thinking of that old phrase from the 60s and 70s; The Whole World Is Watching. I don't know how true that "chant"was back then, but I know damn well that it is true now.

I know quite a few people who believe the U.S. to be invincible. They are like teenagers who feel invulnerable, and don't care what the rest of the world thinks about the crimes of our government. There is not a whit of wisdom among them. They move through life, mechanically, like adults who still believe in fairy tales, trapped in their own concrete, rigidly ideological minds.

It is, no doubt, to late for impeachment now but, after all, impeachment and trial by the senate is only one way to skin a skunk or two or three, four, etc., etc. It is a way to remove a president and VP from office so that they can be tried for their crimes.

I realize that one of Obama's most cherished motives for running for president was to bring a deeply divided nation together. That goal may well be beyond the grasp of any president. The dangerous divide in this nation didn't begin 8 years ago. It started with the assassination of JFK, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.

In 1968 America went off the rails and I'm not hopeful that a people so deeply divided that they literally live in two different realities can ever be brought together again.

Nevertheless, accountability and justice can and must be done.

THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING, as well they might after the latest reign of "the effing Crazies."

PLEASE SEND TO LARGEST LISTS AND POST EVERYWHERE ASAP

Thank Kucinich for His Remarks Today on Iran and Impeachment

When a Congress Member steps out into a firestorm of opposition from the corporate media and his own party's leadership, he has to hear support from us to keep him going.

Please call Rep. Dennis Kucinich at 202-225-5871 and Email him at http://kucinich.us/contact and thank him for his remarks today on the floor of the House, in which he stood up for Congress' war powers and stated impeachment may be the only way to prevent President Bush from attacking Iran. If you really want to encourage Dennis to move ahead on impeachment, one idea is to go to http://kucinich.us and donate to his presidential campaign. Try giving $15 because this is March 15th and indicating that impeachment is the reason why.

Remarks on the floor of the U.S. House, March 15, 2007

This House cannot avoid its Constitutionally authorized responsibility to restrain the abuse of Executive power.

The Administration has been preparing for an aggressive war against Iran. There is no solid, direct evidence that Iran has the intention of attacking the United States or its allies.

The US is a signatory to the UN Charter, a constituent treaty among the nations of the world. Article II, Section 4 of the UN Charter states, "all members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. . . Even the threat of a war of aggression is illegal.

Article VI of the US Constitution makes such treaties the Supreme Law of the Land. This Administration, has openly threatened aggression against Iran in violation of the US Constitution and the UN Charter.

This week the House Appropriations committee removed language from the Iraq war funding bill requiring the Administration, under Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution, to seek permission before it launched an attack against Iran.

Since war with Iran is an option of this Administration and since such war is patently illegal, then impeachment may well be the only remedy which remains to stop a war of aggression against Iran.

www.kucinich.us

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

All right, already!

O.K. We've heard enough. We'll keep this site as our news site and refer seekers of all types to our new site:

 http://weveonlyjustbegun-pelican693.blogspot.com 

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Right Wing Thuggery Targets Michelle Obama

Here we go again!


The Swiftboat of fools are at it again, as predicted. Everyone knew it was coming.


After what they did to John Kerry (and Theresa, to some extent), it is reasonable to expect that this general election is going to be much worse. If they can go after a man who volunteered to serve in Vietnam (when he did not have to), claiming falsely that his medals were bogus and that he "got himself shot so he could someday be president," they are literally capable of anything.


What's worse, there are Americans who actually believed that claptrap, maybe because they wanted to believe it, needed to believe it or because they are simply mentally challenged and constantly subject themselves to Pravda AM Radio and Faux Noise.


These Americans, sad to say, are already being convinced that Barack is a Marxist Muslim and that Michelle is a racist who hates America.


Check out the link below to Obama's "Smear Page" and you will see what I mean. There you will find the smears and the truth regarding them.


Some of the usual suspects are involved, but I am surprised and saddened to see the hate and misinformation being spread over at Larry Johnson's "No Quarter."


Our posting has been slight of late and one of the reasons for that has been that our usual posters and researchers (which are usually the same people, especially during the summer months) is that we have been doing due diligence for our community to track down some of the rumors that are flying and trying to find out the truth; the truth about where they are coming from and the validity, or more likely the invalidity, of the claims about Michelle and Barack Obama. (I would not doubt that there will be rumors about their little girls next. I guess it's a good thing that some controversial friend of the family hasn't given the girls a dog. I can see it on Fox Noise: BREAKING NEWS "Obama's daughters associated with a Muslim, racist, marxist Labrador Retriever" )


On a personal note: My cousin, who was more like an older brother to me when I was a kid and to whom I will refer to as G., came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. I had not seen him since my father died slightly over 11 years ago. When we were still young my aunt, finally, insisted that she and the boys light somewhere. Their father was in the U.S. Army for years and then with the civil service. His work made it necessary for him to travel, until the day he retired, often in other countries. From the time she and the boys moved into a house about 2 to 3 miles from ours, I had what I always wanted, brothers.


I write all this personal stuff because it is the first time I have had to face the results of the right-wing propaganda machine in someone I love and from whom I just cannot simply walk away.


During our times alone, our conversation eventually turned to politics. Not far into the conversation he stated that Obama is a Marxist. My mouth /speech mechanism failed me. I guess I was stunned. After what seemed longer than it probably was, my speech facilities returned. Much to my surprise no insulting rant flew out. Instead, I asked? Do you really think that, G? He said that that is what he has heard and that it makes sense to him. "Where did you hear that....who told you that,? I asked. "Neale Boortz (not sure of spelling) on the radio," said he. Not one to listen to the radio any more, I wasn't sure who Neale Boortz is, but I had a feeling he was part of the right-wing-propaganda-machine. Still, I said, " Well, G., if you really think there is something to this, I am going to get down to some heavy duty research after you leave. I promise, I will study the matter. He was going to be here for a week and much of that time was taken up with tourist stuff. At times unfortunately, I live in one of those places. Whether or not Obama is a Marxist could wait.


We had several conversations, while he was here about politics, and the state of the union. The topic certainly came up when my youngest cousin and his wife showed up as well. It sounds strange talking about my youngest cousin, whose hair is whiter than mine and who has turned into one of the most fun and fascinating characters I have ever known. His wife fits him well. They are one of those few couples who you may know or have met somewhere. You look at them and know that they were truly meant for each other.


I will refer to him as D.D. and her as E.Z.. ...


No less than three times he announced to us that he is a Republican. What followed each time was total dismay and real fear for the country. It was not Al Qaeda or any other terrorist group of whom my cousin and his wife are frightened. It is the Republican party of today and the authoritarians who are controlling D.C.. "Some of the Democrats are just as bad," he said, in a tone of voice that was not politically accusatory, but reasonable and sad more than anything else. D.D. is a very successful business man. It is no surprise that he is a Republican; the kind of Republican my father was, a full generation ago. I guess if there is still such a thing, he is a Goldwater Republican. D.D. is 5 years younger than I am. I came of age in the 60s. Back then the voting age was 21. If I could have, I would have voted for Bobby Kennedy, had I been one year older and not robbed of my ballot by a bullet. I don't recall that D.D. was all that interested in politics at the time.


I saw three good men (warts and all), gunned down because they told the truth about America's warts, they talked about change; change for the good of all. As Bobby once quoted someone (I don't remember whom): "Some see what is and ask, why? I see what can be and ask, why not?) D.D was just young enough that he was not as emotionally effected by those murders. Even my father, after Bobby's death, wondered allowed if the U.S. was anything but a big banana republic. What he was wondering was if there had been a coup in America.


Little did we know.


My father voted Republican all of his life. My first exposure to politics was from my father's shoulders in downtown Birmingham. We "liked Ike" and Eisenhower is the only president or presidential candidate, to this day, that I have seen, personally. Nevertheless, Bobby was murdered, I felt helpless and hopeless and my mother taught me the importance of being an independent, not that the two events had anything to do with one another. They just happened around the same time.


Now, all these years later, D.D. and E.Z drove 30 miles and stood in line for three hours to see Obama. They didn't have tickets. They got to see him nonetheless. They were impressed.


There is no doubt for whom they will be casting their ballot. McCain, D.D. says, is more of the same but worse, and certainly more than the nation can endure and that he is not fit for the job at such a perilous time as this. He wasn't ranting, making false accusations that are on the face of them half truths at best. (A half truth is, in many ways, more dangerous than a bald face lie. Think about it.) He noted Obama's lack of experience in Washington, D.C and his apparent lack of foreign policy experience. Then he said exactly what I have been thinking and sharing with my friends:


He said that he would rather have a smart, very sharp person in charge and a smart group of problem solvers around him, people who have no real conflicts of interest between their own well-being and the job they are asked to do. The best people will be people who realize, as we all do, that the nation is in very deep trouble and that there is no easy way out of this mess, people who will tell us the truth about the state of our union and then set about to lead, responsibly and selflessly, as people often do in times of great crisis.


The time for silly campaigns and average to completely inadequate to actually criminal presidents is over for the foreseeable future as far as I'm concerned. As I told my cousin, I do not want a president I can have a beer with, or a glass of wine or a Margarita for that matter.


I would just as soon he stay sober, thank you very much. I do not care if he is elite when it comes to smarts, if that is what makes a person elite. Obama was a very big deal at Harvard, no slouch he.


If that makes some of us feel inadequate to the point that he or she feels the need to smear him, I can only say, "try to resist." As you can see, it only reflects badly on you and shines a spotlight on your inadequacy, real or imagined. Try to understand that it is a very primitive type of motivation and behavior, adapted long ago from out-right murder to throwing stones and slinging mud at that which threatens not your life, as in our more primitive years, but your obviously fragmented ego/personality.


The last thing I want is a man or woman in the White House who is considerably more stupid than I am. I don't want a "regular guy" in the White House and anyone who does is a damn fool.


Unfortunately, the job of being president is very isolating and anyone to whom we give that job has to make an effort to stay in touch with the people and their lives. It seems to me that a president's spouse is a natural liaison with ordinary Americans; meaning those who are not bound up in the D.C. bubble.


When I sit here and think about a president's liaison with the people being his spouse (I say this because Hillary has more or less conceded to Obama), I know with whom I, personally, would rather be having a town hall meeting. That spouse would be Michelle Obama. I don't have a damn thing in common with Mrs. McCain except our color and that is just not enough, no, just as Barack being just any black person would be enough to win my support for president of our very broken Democratic Republic.


The simple fact is that though I am a nearly 60 year old, white woman from the deep south, I would feel more comfortable with Michelle Obama. I have more in common with her. The really funny thing is that every time I hear a "Michelle Obama is such and angry person" smear, I know that that is one of those dangerous half truths. I have never met Michelle Obama in my life, but I would be willing to bet that she does get angry. Hell, so do I. I was angry yesterday; so angry that I didn't feel all that comfortable posting. Nevertheless, I did post about what had made me so damned angry.


So what, if Michelle Obama finds herself being really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life? I'm feeling hope again for the first time in 40 years and I know people who haven't voted in 30 to 40 years who flat intend to vote for Obama this year. I see and hear about our young people getting involved in politics because of Obama's campaign. That alone gives me hope and it makes me proud, that our grandkids are trying to take up help us realize that dream we all shared in one way or the other, back in the day, when it all blew up in our faces, 40 years ago.


So, click on over and take a look at what the RWPM has managed to fling so far. My strong hunch is, this is nothing compared to what's coming.


Forgive me, but it makes me feel like grabbing someone by the ears and slamming his or her head against a wall. Seems that should be the treatment for concrete brains or brains so ideologically rutted as to be dangerously dysfunctional.


Makes me wonder if this union can endure.


http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/notape



The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Corporations Are Not Poeple and Should Have No Inalienable Rights

We could not agree more. As long as we allow corporations to claim person-hood, with all of the inalienable rights guaranteed by the constitution, if we have one left, we will fall further and further into a fascist, authoritarian state.

Hitler and Mussolini, the father of fascism who said that corporatism and fascism were, basically, the same thing, did not happen over night. Authoritarianism never does. It sneaks upon a people, in the night, in the shadows, the smoke of chaos covering it's tracks and making it seem righteous. Nothing could be less true than righteous authoritarian fascism. Because in such a nightmare, the politicians we are allowed to vote on are not ours. (of course, we are not including every politician in that declaration. Some spend their careers looking out for the ordinary American. They are rare these days.) Most politicians belong to the lobbyist on K Street in D.C. or lesser lobbying streets.

The corporate officers of quite a few American corporations have been allowed to literally right policy....in the shadows, of course. These people are not elected nor are they accountable to anyone but their boards and, to some extent, their shareholders.

In the late 90s, there was a horrifying study done which found that, for the most part, the people who were very successful in the corporate world were either had narcissistic personality disorder or were sociopathic or functional psychotics. These are the people of which the Republican party says," let them regulate themselves' or "just leave it alone, the market will correct everything and is our savior, most unholy"

How many times are we going to have to see what happens when financial institutions are left to their own devices. It's always a freakin' disaster. Remember Neil Bush and Silverado? Neil just walked away and the tax payer picked up the bill.

Now we have this housing foreclosure, credit crisis mess, all caused by lending institutions; greedy, sociopathic institutions, the shot-callers of which do not give a damn about anything but their bottom line, their bonuses for firing people and doing away with pensions after people have retired, believing that they would have enough to live on in their golden years and would not have to struggle or rely on their children, who have children of their own and are barely making ends meet, themselves. Why did we not allow Ted Bundy to self-regulate? Frankly I don't see the difference, given that it is a cardinal sin to be poor in America, no matter the reason. It is cause for great shame. Ones quality of life changes, when pensions dry up.

I over-heard an elderly man ask another man, in Ojai, California, last year, "I've got to sit down now and figure out how many years I can live, even the simple life I live, before I find myself on the streets of LA or San Francisco." He had told his friend that his pension from Delta Airlines was no more. He had been a pilot, but couldn't fly anymore, as he had developed vision problems after retiring. It was one of the saddest conversations I have ever over-heard.

His only son, a Navy pilot in Vietnam, had been killed. His wife of 30 years, committed suicide shortly thereafter. (Soldiers are not the only casualties of war.) This he told me after his friend left and I asked if I could join him, and confessed to overhearing his conversation. I told him, "I know how hard it is to talk to even family and friends about money, but Americans are going to have to start doing that more often." Americans do need to talk to each other more about hard topics and not just assume that the corporate news media is telling us the truth about the economy, because they are not.

Now we have the handy, dandy 401K. I ask those of you who have a 401k, how much control do you really have over how your money is invested? Is it your money, or is it slave money, which the brokers and fund managers can play with or move about as their buddies need a better cash flow? Is your money invested in your best interest in the long run or the needs of big business in the short run.

Enslaving people is illegal in the U.S. So are things like child labor and paying people less than the minimum wage, because they are illegally in the U.S. Cruel business practices are made easier for corporations who move their manufacturing off shore, as well as their business address, so they can avoid taxes. The results are a little like share-cropping, which should be illegal, if it isn't, especially in the form in which it was practiced after the Civil War (what an oxymoron that is, eh?). Communal farming is one thing. Share cropping is something quite different. It is barely a step up from slavery, but was predictable in the defeated South, which was still mostly agrarian, with large plantations (like big agribusiness of today) which had to be worked. Sharecropping was the answer for a long time after the war....an oppressive answer to the problems of the plantation owners' need for help farming large pieces of land.


But it is not illegal to enslave ones money.


It has, for some time, been amazing to me how little people realize that the people who are calling the shots in America are unelected, greedy, gluttonous, deceptive people (and I'm not talking about the illegitimate Bush regime). I'm talking about the corporate officers and boards of corporations and their flunkies on K Street.

If a revolution becomes inevitable, they are the ones the people should go after. Forget the politicians.

Remember:

The corporate sociopaths, functional psychotics and economic hit men.

The Neoconservatives: The Nazis of modern day America

The Theocons: Those who would make every attempt to codify their twisted belief systems in America.

As my beloved cousin said just this evening, "I don't care if you want to worship that tree out there," as he pointed to a huge Live Oak near where he is staying while he visits, "just don't tell me I have to worship it as well." Well said.

C.S. Lewis said it well when he said, "when fascism comes to America, it will come wearing the flag and carrying a cross.

Monday, June 02, 2008

The 'Conspiracy of Rich Men' That Threatens the Peace, the World and the Environment

America is ruled and held hostage by what Sir Thomas More would have called 'conspiracy of rich men procuring their own commodities under the name and title of the commonwealth'.

This fascist domination of American life and debate is made possible only because people have bought a pernicious notion: 'corporate personhood', which makes possible and winks at More's 'conspiracy of rich men'. Because mere legal abstractions are accorded rights that should belong only to real, living, flesh and blood people, corporations are given license to lie about misdeeds, incompetence and corporate criminality. More would have described this ruling cabal a 'conspiracy of rich men!

Let's take these ruinous, disastrous effects in turn but, first, this point: the theft of America's wealth was accomplished by corporate influence upon a civilian structure that left alone is relatively benign. The problem is not so much government itself but 'K Street', a major thoroughfare in Washington where the numerous think tanks, lobbyists and advocacy groups maintain offices! 'People' themselves cannot be heard through the din they throw up. Until 'K-street' and the 'legal personhood' of corporations is smashed, the actual offices of government are beyond the reach of the people they were intended to serve. K-street will be served ---but not you! If Mr. Smith could see Washington today!! The world that might be changed drastically if 'green energy' were made a high priority. But because 'green energy' threatens the corporate establishment, it will take nothing less than revolution to create a world supplied and powered by it. 'Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion' (OTEC) has been around for years, at least since the middle 70s. It is a source of virtually unlimited, green energy. Over a period of at least 30 years nothing has been done to develop and implement it. I can only conclude that that is the case because big corporations --More's 'conspiracy of rich men' --have not yet figured out a way to enrich themselves with it. Until they do, it is a threat to them.

Ocean waves are already being used as a source of renewable energy, but could differences in water temperatures in the sea be our next source of green power? A decade old idea to generate renewable electricity for the globe with offshore, floating ‘Energy Islands’ could soon become a reality. The concept - creating artificial islands to collect wind, wave and solar power in the tropics - is based on the work of Jacques-Arsène d’Arsonval, a 19th-century French physicist, who envisioned the idea of using the sea as a giant solar-energy collector.Inspired by Jacques-Arsène d’Arsonval, architect and engineer Dominic Michaelis, his son Alex Michaelin (also an architect), and Trevor Cooper-Chadwick are developing a new technique called Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) that takes advantage of differences in temperature between the ocean surface sea (up to 29°C in the tropics) and water a kilometer down (which is typically 5°C). Here’s how it works: warmer surface water is used to heat liquid ammonia, converting it into vapor, which expands to drive a turbine — which in turn produces electricity. The ammonia is then cooled using cold water from the ocean depths, returning it into a liquid state so the process can start all over again.Their goal is to build a network of “energy islands”: floating hexagonal-shaped platforms of reinforced concrete and corrosion-resistant metals that would generate electricity via wind, wave, and solar in addition to having an OTEC plant. It’s estimated that each island complex could produce about 250MW, and that 50,000 “energy islands” could meet the world’s energy requirements (as well as provide two tons of fresh water per person per day for the entire world population — desalinated water is one byproduct of the OTEC process). OTEC plants work best when there’s a temperature difference of 20°C between water at the surface and the water below, making tropical and sub-tropical seas the best candidates for energy islands.--Artificial Energy Islands Could Power The World

As a fledgling network correspondent, I reported on a model of OTEC scaled down, floating and generating electricity in the swimming pool of the legendary Shamrock Hotel in Houston, TX. It is not hard to imagine entire communities built around combinations of OTEC, Solar, and even land versions of OTEC in which sub-surface water is used in place of ocean water. The best part of it is this: OTEC is green OTEC apparently never got off the ground because corporations could never figure out how to make it profitable for them. Over the course of some thirty years, the technical 'kinks' have been worked out. There is no reason other than fear and greed that prevents OTEC from saving the world.
The very concept is a threat to corporations. Typically, corporations have it the wrong way 'round. If corporations can't find a way to make a profit from OTEC, then the problem is not with OTEC but with the concept of 'corporation'. If 'corporate person-hood' is the last hang up to green energy, then the time has come to throw off the corporate yoke and free humankind. 'Corporate person-hood' gives corporations all the rights of individuals but none of the responsibilities. When an 'individual' commits a heinous crime, he or she is simply charged, tried, and punished for the crime. Corporations, by contrast, go to court and pay a measly fine which is written off. The corporation walks!

The word 'corporation' puts them above laws that apply to people. Check out the history of Union Carbide with regard to the Bhopal disaster. Recall the slap on the wrist given Exxon for the Valdez disaster. Those are just the most memorable and most highly publicized disasters for which corporations are rarely held to account. If OTEC and other green methods by which mankind can live in peace on this planet require the absolute abolition of corporations, then let's get on with it! Corporations have gotten us to the point of extinction. Perhaps the time has come to consider the forced extinction of corporations. It's an idea whose time has come. The era of the 'corporation' should be brought to an end.


OTEC was not covered widely by the corporate media, when, in fact, it should have been a big lead story. Again --it's time to turn the conventional wisdom on its head. If corporate media will not cover or report the truth, then it's time for the people to take back the media! It's time to break up and re-distribute the corporate 'ownership' of media.


The public ownership of the airwaves had been a well-established legal principle, upheld by law and court decisions until it was all overturned during the administration of Ronald Reagan. It was in the Reagan years that the laws were re-written to make possible the big media monopolies, the concentration of ownership by Clear Channel et al. It was under Ronald Reagan that the Fairness Doctrine made possible the likes of Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. It was under Ronald Reagan than a pernicious 'right wing revolution' --what St. Thomas More would have called a 'conspiracy of rich men' --stole the people's airwaves and made possible Bush's dictatorship. It's time to wage the revolution. A line in Shakespeare's Henry VI reads: "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers!" In this case, we spare the lawyers if they will but help us take back the media! The first thing we do is take back the media. A good second step involves smashing the 'media' lobby on K street. We need to get over the idea that corporations have a right to lobby the government!


Corporations are not people and, as far as I am concerned, have no rights whatsoever.

Someone, show me a principle of science or law which credibly equates living tissue with legal abstractions and cubicles!Thanks to Ronald Reagan and the GOP, one is hard pressed to find in any US market, a locally owned radio station or TV outlet. Before Reagan, it was not unusual to find locally owned radio and TV stations in small to major markets across the nation. Now ---it seems --all are owned by some five to seven major conglomerates. If we, the people, should declare it so, corporations themselves might just be written out of existence. And good riddance! Real people have 'rights'. Legal abstractions do not. The idea that an artificial, legal construct --a 'conspiracy of rich men' --has inherent or inalienable rights is pure bullshit. It's absurd on its face. How did this idiotic idea become so ingrained?


CORPORATIONS ARE NOT PEOPLE!

We --a revolution of the people --shall make the laws under the common law and ancient principles that declare people not only have rights but are, in fact, sovereign! Should we the people so decree, Fox and the handful of huge corporations that presume to tell us what to do and what to believe, have neither right nor privileges, then Fox and the handful of huge corporations will be either shut down or taken over!


Begin by organizing and insisting upon an FCC with teeth! Insist upon restoring the Fairness Doctrine! Insist upon limitations to corporate ownership of media or prohibiting corporation ownership outright! Remember --'legal abstractions' have NO rights and certainly not those of 'real people'. Insist upon ownership rules that break up the media monopolies. Measures like this existed before Ronald Reagan began an assault upon the rights for the benefit of abstractions, before the GOP conspired with More's 'conspiracy of rich men'. More generally, the people have paid for Reagan/GOP fascism with the truth itself. Therefore, wage revolution against corporate 'person-hood'. In the absence of corporate influence, government will simply have no choice but to respond to real people or just disband. Certainly, as the fall of Rome proves, ineffective, top-heavy bureaucracies whose only purpose is the waging of wars of self-perpetuation and aggression, are simply not needed.



As useless wastes of human resources, the US government of treasonous militarists and fascist bureaucrats whose only jobs are self-justification, should be dismantled, re-invented, and re-assembled! Precise language --to be added to the Constitution --will make fascist government of and by corporations impossible; corporations themselves will be made impossible and constitutionally illegal. A good beginning would be to focus the attention of some national organizations on the bogus idea of 'corporate personhood'. If large organizations like Moveon.org et al would zero in on the source of our national malaise, much good would come of it. Instead of playing 'whack-a-mole' with every cockamamie right wing idea that comes up, more could be accomplished by going for the jugular --the corporations themselves. Corporations --as legal abstractions --should, by right, have no influence on government. Corporations will resist green energy because there are no profits in it. But the corporate argument is circular and assumes the correctness of the 'profit motive'. Who says corporations deserve or need a profit? Only corporations!


In America, the concept of 'profit' itself is simply 'assumed' to be correct as are the numerous economic shibboleths that make up right-wing orthodoxy. It is time to re-examine the gestalt of assumptions, myths, and articles of propaganda that make up 'right wing' economics. It's time to reassess 'profit' or perhaps abandon the concept entirely. No corporation will produce 'green energy' just as no big corporation can be trusted to tell you the truth on the evening news. The problem is not 'green energy' itself but rather the pro-corporate prejudice that prevents its development, indeed, any rational critique of 'right wing economics'. Not surprisingly, the corporations have it the wrong way around again. Green energy is NOT the problem; it is rather the solution. It's corporations that resist or block the development of 'green energy' that are the problem. As I learned in broadcasting --if you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem. In America, the corporations ARE the problem. The very concept of 'corporation' is institutionalized mental constipation, a block against reason and inquiry.

...when I consider and weigh in my mind all these commonwealths, which nowadays anywhere do flourish, so God help me, I can perceive nothing but a certain conspiracy of rich men procuring their own commodities under the name and title of the commonwealth.

They invent and devise all means and crafts, first how to keep safely, without fear of losing, that they have unjustly gathered together, and next how to hire and abuse the work and labour of the poor for as little money as may be. These devices, when the rich men have decreed to be kept and observed for the commonwealth’s sake, that is to say for the wealth also of the poor people, then they be made laws.

But these most wicked and vicious men, when they have by their insatiable covetousness divided among themselves all those things, which would have sufficed all men, yet how far be they from the wealth and felicity of the Utopian commonwealth? Out of the which, in that all the desire of money with the use of thereof is utterly secluded and banished, how great a heap of cares is cut away! How great an occasion of wickedness and mischief is plucked up by the roots!

--Sir Thomas More (1478–1535), Utopia, Of the Religions in Utopia

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Rachael Maddow has A Theory.....

....one which is shared by many of our number of independents, quite unbound, if not totally unhinged by now.

Hillary is going to NOT accept any compromise, period, giving her the right to take her campaign to the convention, probably tearing the Democratic party to pieces. Whether or not that is her intention, it may very will be the result, especially if many of the latest democratic coalition believe that the nomination was stolen from Obama. That will, essentially, be the end of that coalition and with any luck at all, the beginning of a new political system, because we can no longer abide the corrupt one we now have, including the most corrupt of all, the Republican party, and hopefully the Libertarians will take care of them. Go, Bob Barr!

Oh joy, joy, let the whole corrupt, rotten-to-the-core system blow itself to smithereens, Glory Hallelujah, or collapse under the weight of its own stinking, scandalous immorality and its most dangerous corruption in the form of a theocratic fascism, which C.S. Lewis (theologian and scholar) prophesied years ago.

Carpus Diem, Americans of good faith and good sense!

Some of us wondered whether some of us were becoming just a bit paranoid, after all, who could possibly blame us at this point, for saying that Rachael was getting it. After reading the Bloomberg Report, seems to me that the paranoids among us were right again.

HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS!!!!!


Clinton Lobbies Superdelegates Before Party Meeting (Update2)

By Lorraine Woellert and Christopher Stern

May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton stepped up her lobbying of Democratic Party superdelegates today as rival Barack Obama said he is ready to start the general election campaign after the last two primaries are held next week.

Clinton, in a letter and 11-page analysis sent to the party officials and office holders who have a vote at the Democratic convention, argues that neither she nor Obama will have the nomination locked up after the last primaries on June 3 and that the superdelegates should back her because she's the better candidate against Republican John McCain.

``When the primaries are finished, I expect to lead in the popular vote and in delegates earned through primaries,'' the New York senator wrote. ``Ultimately, the point of our primary process is to pick our strongest nominee.''

Obama, speaking to reporters tonight on his campaign plane, said he is focused on snagging the remaining delegates he needs to secure the nomination. ``Once we have that number we will focus on the general election,'' he said.

``I'm sure we will have discussions with Senator Clinton and her team,'' Obama said when asked what he will do if Clinton stays in the race after June 3.

Clinton's appeal to superdelegates and Obama's positioning himself for the general election are the latest fronts in a Democratic nominating battle that shows no signs of letting up even as the primary process winds down.

Decision on Rules

The Clinton campaign distributed the letter as the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee prepares for a May 31 meeting to determine whether Florida and Michigan delegates should be allowed to participate at the convention in August.

The two states, both battlegrounds in the November election, were stripped of their delegates as a penalty for holding early primaries. Clinton and the other Democratic presidential candidates agreed last year to the sanctions imposed by the Democratic National Committee.

With Obama, an Illinois senator, leading Clinton in backing from superdelegates and in the number of pledged delegates won through primaries and caucuses, the Clinton campaign is pressing to seat the delegations from Florida and Michigan and give them full votes at the nominating convention.

`A Full Vote'

``We are urging 100 percent of the delegations be seated and each delegate have a full vote,'' Clinton campaign adviser Harold Ickes said. Ickes, a member of the Rules and Bylaws Committee, made the comment on a conference call with reporters.

Clinton won both primaries, though neither candidate campaigned in the two states and Obama withdrew his name from the Michigan ballot. Obama's advisers say they are within 46 of the 2,026 delegates needed to win the nomination under the current rules.

This is, contrary to what the Clinton's would have us believe, not anything like debacle of 2000.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said they are willing to compromise on giving the two states representation at the convention, though not without a penalty.

``We are open to a result that gives her delegates,'' Plouffe said. ``We don't think it's fair to seat them fully.''

Obama today questioned what grounds Clinton would have to contest his right to the nomination, should he get the number of delegates needed. He noted that two lawsuits challenging the status of the Florida and Michigan primaries have ``already been thrown out of court.''

Any grounds.... Coffee grounds...burial grounds, it doesn't matter, Barack? No other candidate, let alone a woman, would have ever elbowed their way this much forward, under these same circumstances?

Odds for Clinton

Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell, a Clinton supporter, said he doesn't expect the DNC to come up with a resolution that gives Clinton a better chance to win the nomination.

``It's very unlikely that Senator Clinton can prevail. I think that means we're not going to field our strongest candidate,'' Rendell said in an on Bloomberg Television to be aired later today.

Don't be so sure, Governor. You would be surprised how sick people are of professional politicians, who have never dome another damned thing in their lives but money grub, for themselves or their candidate.

Even if the full delegations from the two states were counted, Clinton wouldn't overtake Obama's lead in pledged delegates up to this point, based on a tally by the Associated Press. Clinton is counting on gaining a large majority of Puerto Rico's 55 delegates in the commonwealth's June 1 primary. Obama is favored in South Dakota and Montana, which hold contests June 3 with a total of 31 pledged delegates at stake.

In a 17-page analysis of the Michigan and Florida challenges, DNC staff lawyers maintain that the rules committee had the authority to sanction the states.

Oh God, we are so sick of this!!!!!

Setting the Penalty

One question committee members will consider May 31 is whether they have the authority to seat all Florida and Michigan delegates and fully restore their votes.

I don't have the answer to that one, but if I were the Democrats, I would be wanting to send a very strong signals to the youth and middle class the state of Florida, and believe it or not there are many of them, you had better start thinking of you futures and electing Democrats. Your state elected Jeb Bush twice and now this Charlie Christ guy, who decided to violate the Democratic part rules, set down and signed by every campaign, before the primaries ever started, back when everyone thought that the Clintons would blow everyone out of the water by, at least, Super-duper Tuesday. It was really Christ who messed you guys up, not the Democrats, nor Obama. You are now being used by the Clinton. Every vote should count

The primaries would be over and Hillary would be awaiting her coronation and headed for the White House, as anyone would have McCain is her gun sights by now and, unfortunately, all of her baggage in tow. She says she is fully vetted, but she hasn't seen anything yet, unless she has soled out. Unfortunately though I, myself, and many of my compadres here at I.U. would like nothing more than to see a woman in the White House, but from what we can see, Hillary and her husband have people around them that we don't like very much. As a matter of fact, we see them as far more dangerous enemies to the people, the constitution and the country than Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein could have ever dreamed of being in their wildest imaginations.....That would be our people, constitution and country, I mean. Seems we have to make that very clear these days.

Hillary has been hanging out with people like Rupert Murdoch, Bill has been hanging out with people like Poppy Bush and Henry Mellon-Scaife and was paid 9 million by some company for consulting. Can any one possibly explain to me what anyone one on this earth could say to anyone that would be worth 9 mil? Please tell me, if you know! We are sinking fast here, I'll tell anyone who wants to know for 1 mil. That would be just about enough to pay off everything and get the hell out of this loony bin.

Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, whom, from what I can tell, is basically a Likudnik, and some one else who was big time cocaine dealer or something? What about all the potheads you put in jail, Bill, or at the very least, ruined their lives? What about all of the corporate mergers that began on your watch and the oh so glorious free trade which is another world for corporate empire. Sure, certain rules about corporations (ours or theirs) not treating people in foreign countries like slaves or share croppers are inserted into these agreements, but they are not being enforced and they cannot be enforced and until they can be, which will be never, NO MORE!!!

Hillary is saying one thing and Bill and her campaign manager, the ever so forgettable, Mr. Penn were doing quite the opposite; behind her back? Really? How much else will go on behind her back if we elect her? The other thing is, I don't give a damn how sleep deprived one is, one does not imagine having landed in a plane under sniper fire in a war zone. It simply doesn't happen. So, please, Friends of Hillary, please explain that to me (and don't bullshit me because I am a research psychologist and an applied psychophysioligist and I know what I'm talking about.). Sleep deprivation, of the kind used for torture, could make me say anything I thought my torturers wanted me to say, but self-induced sleep deprivation does not cause anyone to tell self-serving whoppers.

I know if there is one thing which binds we I.U.ers to each other is that we are all tired of pathological liars and we want not just change but stupendous change....back to where we started from? NO.... no, I don't think so.

We want to move forward, using the knowledge we have gained over the centuries. Turning a page, maybe a whole chapter or ending one; 0ne that needs desperately to end, But also beginning a new one. One that may just include our highest hopes for our world and our nation.

Our oracle on the mountain tells us that we do not have much time to decide, if we are coming to a calamitous end or if we are beginning anew.

In their memo, DNC lawyers note that party rules impose an ``automatic sanction'' of a 50 percent reduction in pledged delegates for states that don't follow the rules. The committee could cut the delegations in half pledged delegates and half super-delegates.

``Some people read that rule as limiting the RBC's ability to fashion a sanction that is not explicitly set forth in the rules,'' Ickes said, referring to the Rules and Bylaws Committee. ``You can just as easily read that as permitting the RBC as fashioning any sanction it wants.'' (Any sanction? Like what, for example, other than the most severe sanction I can think of, the non-seating of delegates, which is where we stand now.? How can it possibly get worse than that. Assassination or something? Just wondering....)

``The staff analysis is intentionally neutral; it does not make specific recommendations,'' DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said in a written statement today. ``The analysis maintains that the RBC did have proper authority and jurisdiction in imposing the 100 percent sanction.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Lorraine Woellert in Washington at lwoellert@bloomberg.net; Christopher Stern in Washington, at Cstern3@bloomberg.net

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Just In Case You Didn't Get It....

WE, INDEPENDENTS, THINK ABC SUCKS ! ! !


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Big Brother In The Sky or Government As God

I was just reading a Pdf article ( http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/RL34421.pdf ) regarding spy satellites that have, until now, been used for spying on foreign countries, I hope for defensive purposes only, and not for corporate use. That is of concern, today, or it certainly should be of concern to citizens as well as the corporations, themselves, with government and corporations so closely intertwined that the majority of Telecoms welcomed the government to use them to spy on Americans and anyone else whose emails or phone calls are trafficked through the U.S., even though they knew it was illegal. (Only Quest refused until congress was asked and did change the law. Quest and its CEO were punished in every way one could think of short of Guantanamo, by use of government agencies; the IRS, etc.)

How very Nixonian!

Spy satellites have also been used on U.S. soil for such things as taking pictures of a place just after a disaster, so that "helping agencies" can see what roads are washed out, for example, where certain building are located, like schools, where people may have gathered for shelter. Satellite info. is used by the Department of Agriculture to asses crop damage and the like, after hurricanes, floods along the Mississippi and other large rivers and, of course, drought. However, spy satellites have never been turned, so to speak, on the American people and used as a law enforcement tool, which could have terrible ramifications for what's left of the constitution; there are privacy issues, posse comitatus, 4th amendment issues (hard to type that and not laugh out loud, as the 4th amendment went out the window with Reagan's War On Drugs).

Now, the Bushites want just that; the freedom to use satellites, that we pay for, to spy on us and feed information to local law enforcement. They want the satellites under the auspices of DHS. Can this get anymore Orwellian? Actually, not even George O. himself could have imagined this.

The spy satellites we are talking about are billed as having technology and spying power that would make Google Earth and other such public programs seem ancient in comparison. This must be the technology we have heard can read a car's tag in Paris. They can do it in NYC as well. Some might say that it doesn't matter to them because they aren't breaking the law. O.k, I can buy that, at first glance, but only at first glance.

We all probably break a law or two at least once every day of our lives. I know I have no idea what all the laws of this country are and what they prohibit or demand. I don't believe anyone does; no, not even attorneys. (There are way too many laws in this country.)

Also, what if the law should suddenly change, so drastically that it shocks and scares the hell out of you? For example, the suspension of the constitution and the declaration of martial Law, let's say at 3:00 am. Black Humvees, with highly armed black clad men standing with AK47s through the large sunroof, and other military utility vehicles with odd looking equipment on top. are patrolling your neighborhood when you awaken. You are being told, over a speaker system in the vehicles, that you should remain in your homes unless you are a first responder.

In that case you may leave for work as long as you have your ID showing that you are a fireman, policeman, work at a hospital or clinic, whatever. You are effectively cut off from your family and friends, the members of which, live all around the country or across town, as all civilian communication is blocked.

Only TeeVee stations that carry disaster or warning information will have information from the government. Maybe that will be the only station available for days on end. Those of us who need to go to work, will be allowed to do so, after one or two days of complete lock-down. Our fellow employees will have no more information than we do. After work, you will be told to go straight home; no happy hour for you; no contact with friends even for the comfort of opinion sharing. Schools will be closed.

Now, just sit with that for a moment. Feel it! What's that that's piercing your heart like cold steel? Could it be terror? What's that feeling in the pit of your stomach? Might you toss your cookies, or will stomach cramps just set in for a few days? Did you believe that your brain could ever reach the amount of Hz it is reaching now? It is literally whirling, trying to understand and figure what's best to do, for the sake of your family and yourself. Only one thing seems certain. You are on your own.

The information channel says there have been several terrorist events around the country. Have there really been terrorist events? With all you now know, can you really trust this?

TeeVee News is off the air.

The attacksy have been of different natures; a small nuclear event, several bio-attacks in Air Travel hubs, and several chemical attacks. No more information can be given for national security reasons. Of course, the attacks were carried out by al Qaeda, maybe even al Qaeda in Iraq. Seems we will believe anything.

Do any of you gun guys plan on running to fetch your small arsenal. Don't bother. You will only need one gun...to use on yourself, if for some reason your name is on a list somewhere, slap-happily compiled as was the terrorist watch list and the no-fly list, and Bushes private special forces have come to relocate you and maybe your entire family to a "detainment camp." (google is your friend). DHS and Blackwater are not. (Remember Katrina? That wasn't just a big ass hurricane, it was a message from your government. Don't count on us. The only answer we have to any problem is the military.

Is there really anything more frightening than falling into the hands of your own government, especially when it is in a state of war and habeas corpus has been deep-sixed.

What if the government shares information with the corporations, with which it is so intertwined, like insurance companies, for example?

Perhaps the government spy satellites can be made to watch every move you and your family make for a month, without your knowledge, of course. Car insurance people would certainly be interested in whether or not you or any member of your family are aggressive drivers, if you routinely drive over the speed limit in a 35 MPH speed zone where accidents are frequent or consistently speed on the highways. Remember that your teen-aged son is being scrutinized as well. Need I say more. That insurance company won't insure you. You will be referred to an insurance company that charges ungodly monthly payments. What about standing up for your rights before you have zero left and you are living in a capitalist police state that will make the Soviet Union look like child's play?

* But here's a thought. Do we really have this kind of technology? If so, why in hell could we not find Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden? Why could we not pinpoint the exact locations of WMD caches in Iraq, supposedly easily spotted by these satellites, (other than the fact that there were none, of course).

Congress Critters on the intelligence committees know what we've got and what it can do. Why wouldn't they have asked for the satellite shots before they signed off on this illegal, unjust, freakin' war? Why was it necessary to kill millions of people, maim a few million more and destroy the lives of so many people here, in Iraq and in Afghanistan?

Oh. Do we still have that law against assassinating leaders of other nations; that nuisance of a law that I doubt administrations have obeyed in the first place, but makes a great excuse for all out war, with all of its glorious chaos and fog, during which all kinds of crime can be committed and unthinkable profits can be made by the very corporations who got those no-bid contracts for Iraq, Afghanistan and, yes, even New Orleans. (Make that unspeakable profits, as well.) Of course, some corporate financial records are available for scrutiny in the public record. How much are some of these jackasses making off the books? How many millions have just disappeared in Iraq by now?

The truth is out there. But I doubt we will ever be privy to any of it.


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

It's No Longer A Matter of What We Can Do To Stop It?

Received an email from another I.U. friend.

Her main concern was the resignation of Admiral Fallon, what it means and how impeachment is the only thing that will save us from WWIII. Good point in ordinary times, but these are not ordinary times. If impeachment is the only thing that will save us, we are all goners, because there will be no impeachment, no trial in the Senate and there will never be any accountability for the war criminals in the White House unless it is brought about by the people.

What do you think the chances of that are? My guess would be slim and none. It never occurs to average Americans, that as a Democracy (or so we are billed), we are responsible for the action of our government, unlike the citizens of, say, Iraq, who were under the heavy boot of a dictator, yet they were not spared when BushCo decided to shock and awe its way into Baghdad.

Perhaps it depends on how many people have lost their houses, lost their jobs, are without healthcare, have awakened to their own personal nightmares and realized the national one we all share, unless we are part of the the happy family on Wall Street or are corporate officers of corporate America's war profiteers, and who and what caused it our national nightmare.

One has to wonder, what it's going to take for Americans to really rise up and say, NO MORE! Replace the crooks in congress, every damn one of them, I don't give a damn whether they are Republicans, Democrats, Likuds, Nazis, Communists, whatever. replace them all and make damn sure that the person you're electing knows that we have had all we are going to take and if he or she isn't prepared to take some drastic measures, for the good of the ordinary people of America (which by it's very definition includes the Iraqi people, since Iraq is clearly our 51st state, now, and has managed to rack up more ear marks than Ted Stevens and Bob Byrd could ever imagine), don't even bother making the move to D.C, because if you go up there and have commerce with the real whores in D.C., the corporate lobbyists, instead of listening to "us, the people," we won't wait for the next election to run you out of town and we will burn K-street to the damn ground while we're at it.

We've seen what happens when the heads of corporate America are allowed to write policy:

Energy policy, for example: Kyoto is out, global warming/climate change is an evil myth made up by Al Gore because he lost the election which, by the way, he didn't. Never-ending war in the middle east to control and help deplete the oil supply, making the policy writers rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams.

How shocking! That's what happens when you allow people with a vested interest to make policy and law.

It is the people who are changing things now, not the government.

Admittedly, it sure as hell took a long time The people are buying Priuses faster than Toyota can make them and other hybrids. People who live in small towns are buying scooters and golf carts. I bought a scooter for my small town travel needs (86 miles to the gallon and environment friendly. I may need to fill it up next Christmas.) and I'm looking for a way to convert my Jeep Cherokee to diesel, since I can't afford to trade it, and I' not buying anything I can't afford to pay for in cash and I have friends who are learning how to use cooking oil for diesel. I only use it for trips into the city and necessary travel. I may have to fill it up three times a year, unless I have to travel out of town for any reason.

I want to see the oil companies get a kick in the solar plexus. Doesn't everybody? Well, Americans, make it happen. Change your fuel consumptions habits, ASAP.

It can be fun! I can attest to that. I'm 59 and am in remission from squamous cell carcinoma and am jetting around the island on a Honda metropolitan. One might ask, given that the type of cancer I have, why I give a damn about any of this. There are generations coming, long after I'm gone. Don't they deserve a chance? Being given a bad prognosis is no excuse for not caring about my beloved country and its ordinary folks. I can love my country and despise mt government. It's easy. I've been doing it for years, on and off.

Of course, I realize that that scooting around the island where I live may not seem like sound like much fun to a wealthy guy who already has three gas guzzlers, a Harley and a big ass boat, but it can for poor people and there are more of us than there are them. Furthermore, demand that your city or county leaders make laws that give right of way to small, environmentally friendly vehicles. That's the only way to get rid of the urban assault vehicles like the ones I encounter daily, so those of us who see the writing on the wall and give a damn about our environment and the robber barons of energy can feel a bit safer as we ride on our scooters, bicycles and in our golf carts, not to mention the much smaller cars that are coming out soon.

Can we prevent Bush and Cheney from nuking Iran and starting WWIII? No, we can't. Certainly not by impeachment.

Unless the people are ready to actually over-throw this illegitimate administration and a congress who are, apparently, either in on the war crimes and crimes against the constitution or who are scared stiff of BushCo.

But the people will have to be ready to suffer, because they will, if they take on this government. It's not the soldiers in Iraq who are really fighting for freedom and Democracy, it will be the people, right here on the ground, in America who will either fight the good fight or not.

It's up to us.

Are we really the scared, yellow-bellied cowards that the Bushites, other Rethugs and some Democrats think we are; so scared of some religious fanatic in a cave somewhere that we will watch our constitution shredded and not lift a finger, just to keep from wearing a burka (like anyone actually would)?

Much to the chagrin of some of my liberal friends, we are an armed-to-the-teeth people. Why should we be so scared of some nut case and his deluded followers. Are they all going to come here, invade us? With what man's Navy? Spectacular terrorist events? Not unless they are allowed in, while warning after warning after warning and red-flag intelligence is ignored by the White House.

I don't doubt that there are people out there who would really like to do Americans harm, especially after the last 5 years. But the Americans they want to hurt the most, are to be found on Wall Street, indicative of corporate America and in D.C.. I won't sacrifice my rights for them. They got themselves into this mess, or as my grandmother would say, they made their bed, let them lie in it.

Seems both our corporations (and I use the word, "our," very loosely) and our government have been misbehaving, to say the least, all over the planet for quite some time. Want to know why they hate some of us? Just do a few searches. Start with Bhopal, There are sites which are devoted to keeping up with corporate misbehavior. Give them a read. They aren't making this stuff up.

When it comes to the government, well, it's easy to list the horrors for which it has been responsible, and they have been committed by administrations of both Democrats and Republicans. The Nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was done by the Truman administration, even though Truman was being briefed that Japan was collapsing. There was no excuse for it, except to attempt to scare the pants off Joe Stalin. Mission accomplished. The Soviets just got their own atomic bomb and we were off to the races; for the moon and the militarization of space.

Thanks a lot, Harry!

But the military-industrial-complex was elated and the tax payers should have been cringing but they were too busy looking under their beds for commies and building bomb shelters that wouldn't have protected them from a nuclear cracker ball.

I know very well that there are some Americans who don't give a hoot what happens to anyone but themselves and their immediate family and believe that the USA is so strong that we can do any damn thing we please to just about anyone in that third world place, without consequences. They are living in the past. We have been weakened in just about every way imaginable since the 2000 election.

We might be able to commit the ultimate shock and awe in Tehran, as my friend is afraid will happen; the nuclear kind. But how will that really change anything except for putting more radiation in the environment for us all to enjoy, not to mention rid the world of god knows how many Iranians, 99.999999% of whom are just ordinary Joes (or Ahmeds or Mohammeds) trying to get a good education, find a good job, have a family and be able to give their kids the basics, perhaps a bit more, if they are lucky. Do I approve of everything their government does. Hell no. Not anymore than I approve of what our government has done. I don't approve of any government that has a human rights record like Iran does. Gay men shouldn't be hung, but I will tell you this, there are people right here in our own country that believe they should be and if they took over the government, gays and a number of other people would be executed. We are just one religious coup away from being Iran.

So what good would come of attacking Iran when such an act could very well set off a nuclear holocaust during which the USA would be target Making oil in short supply for China? Is that real bright, since China now owns us? Such an act may make Saudi Arabia and Israel happy, but who cares? Certainly not I.

Thanks to BushCo. we have horrendous problems over here, in our own country. As far as I'm concerned, everyone else should be on their own. It's time for the USA to pull back and begin to find solutions for our own mounting problems and leave the rest of the world alone.

I have been talking to ordinary people in quite a few countries in so-called enemy territory; you know all Arab/and or Muslim countries since around Dec., 2001. I wanted to hear directly from them about 9/11, because what my own government was saying wasn't making any sense and it still doesn't. What they said did make sense, especially after I spent some time reviewing the history of the world since WWI; not the history that's taught in American schools.

Do you know how brainwashed you are?

There are Muslims in Pakistan who know that there are many Americans who live in horrendous poverty. Other Muslims also know that many, many Americans live in abject poverty and that knowledge doesn't endear the American government to them and they don't understand it. How can a nation so wealthy care so little for so many of its citizens? Most of the Arab world was shocked by Katrina and the way the Bush administration handled it and is still handling it. They always ask about the people of NOLA when they email or chat with me. It's almost as if they have something deeply in common with them. They probably have more in common with the people of New Orleans than Bush and his ilk does.

Ordinary, every -day citizens from other nations, in what we humiliatingly refer to as the Third World, (I think I must have missed the Second World because I am clueless as to who they are.) want the same things we want, except that they also want our government to stop propping up sociopathic dictators in their own countries until it becomes inconvenient for whatever administration we elect (or don't elect but that has grabbed power anyway), when they can expect to be bombed to smithereens just to get the one guy, a guy they all despise, but don't want to die for.

Does anyone really believe that the women of Iraq grieve any less for their sons, daughters and husbands who have been killed by shock and awe and tortured by our military than the ones who were tortured and killed by Saddam and his insane sons?

Just ask yourself, how would you feel if it were you? If we were bombed, invaded and occupied by another power, would we fight back? What about a coup from within? Would we fight it? Apparently not, because that's already happened.

The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Does Hillary think She Can Win Without Independents?

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Clinton will take the Democratic nomination even if she does not win the popular vote, but persuades enough superdelegates to vote for her at the convention, her campaign advisers say.

The New York senator, who lost three primaries Tuesday night, now lags slightly behind her rival, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, in the delegate count. She is even further behind in "pledged'' delegates, those assigned by virtue of primaries and caucuses.

But Clinton will not concede the race to Obama if he wins a greater number of pledged delegates by the end of the primary season, and will count on the 796 elected officials and party bigwigs to put her over the top, if necessary, said Clinton's communications director, Howard Wolfson. ( son of idiot)

"I want to be clear about the fact that neither campaign is in a position to win this nomination without the support of the votes of the superdelegates,'' Wolfson told reporters in a conference call.

"We don't make distinctions between delegates chosen by million of voters in a primary and those chosen between tens of thousands in caucuses,'' Wolfson said. "And we don't make distinctions when it comes to elected officials'' who vote as superdelegates at the convention.

"We are interested in acquiring delegates, period,'' he added.

Clinton advisers rejected the notion that the candidate -- and the party -- would be badly wounded in the general election if the nominee were essentially selected by a group of party insiders.

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG

"This is a nomination system that exists of caucuses, primaries, superdelegates and also the issue of voters in Florida and Michigan,'' states whose delegates currently will not be seated at the convention because they broke party rules by moving up their primaries to January, said Mark Penn, senior strategist for the Clinton campaign. But "whoever the nominee is, the party will come together behind that nominee,'' he said. (Superdelagates are nothing but the old Democratic machine in a different form and we all know it)

But independents may not get behind that person. We may just go harvest the crops, work on our solar panel installations, clean our rain catchers, go to our jobs in town, and get ready for winter. You see Mr. Penn, teevee pundits seem to think of independents as disaffected Goopers. Since when have they known what they are talking about? They certainly don't this year. There has been a left leaning, voting independent movement in this country since 2003. Have you paid any attention at all to the unbelievable increase in voters, even in an off year like 2006? Can you possibly believe that the increase in voters is due to GOP enthusiasm or millions of extra evangelicals? It's their religious duty to vote or stay home anyway. We owe none of you a damn thing.

We are the independents of the 60's. We lost faith in the system 40 years ago, when Bobby was gunned down and our ballots meant nothing. Instead of Bobby and a Vietnam pull out, we got Nixon. Is Hillary going to be the Democrats Nixon in drag?

Independents will decide this election in November. Even if independents do decide that Hillary (super-delegate manipulation and all), is the lesser of the evils (who wouldn't be?), our enthusiasm for her presidency may be zero. If so, she will be a one termer and may well be the president that does what none of us thought she or anyone one else could do; dynamite the Dem-bulbs just as the Goopers are imploding.

Have you taken a look at the youth demographic lately?. They want nothing to do with either party. They are registering as independents in groves. They are our grandkids. They are smart, savvy, and know better than to look to D.C. for leadership. They are independent thinkers, They want to study abroad and don't believe the fairy tales we were taught about America the greatest., the oh, so special country, chosen by God. If they ever did, they don't after 7 years of BushCo and every congress since 2000, including this one.

When I talk to my granddaughter, I wonder if this nation is not through, over, finis....

With the battle for the Democratic nomination excruciatingly close, supporters of both campaigns are questioning the nominating process. The Clinton camp has suggested that the caucuses -- where Obama has bested Clinton in all but one state -- are inherently undemocratic, since only a small percentage of eligible voters are able to make it to a caucus site and commit the time to vote at a particular hour.

Where the hell were these people and all their care for caucus voters, when people couldn't cast their votes in Ohio, Florida and other places in 2004 and 2006 because of long lines in pouring down, frigid rain and the need to get to work? What about the voters who were disenfranchised because they had the same name a a felon? Amazing! Where were they when they should have been contesting that horrid debacle in 2000, leaving the United States of America with an illegitimate administration, which would go on to last for 8 years (if we're lucky) and cause the worst damage to this country in history; damage I shall not live long enough to see us free of.

Clinton -- who initially joined other Democrats in opposing Michigan and Florida's decisions to go ahead with early primaries -- now wants the votes of those primaries counted. The Obama camp thinks that idea is unfair, since candidates were not allowed to campaign in those states, and Clinton alone kept her name on the Michigan ballot, meaning Obama did not have a chance at getting even provisional delegates.

Superdelegates should "vote their conscience,'' despite how their states voted, Wolfson said. Penn noted that the Obama campaign, for example, has not asked Massachusetts Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry to cast superdelegate votes for Clinton, although the Bay State voted overwhelmingly for her in the primary.

Clinton and Kerry should vote with their state if they have no other reason to vote otherwise, like criminal behavior on the part of the Clintons. Clinton is the choice of their state. Wolfson, you are, nevertheless, the ass that turned me off the Cinton campaign to begin with and Mark Penn is the other one.

The two candidates head into contests next week in Hawaii and Wisconsin; Obama is leading in the polls in both states. The Clinton campaign is pinning its hopes on the March 4 states of Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island, but Wolfson said yesterday the campaign is opening offices in every remaining primary and caucus state, including Puerto Rico.

Texas Fire wall For Clinton: Twilight zone.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.