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The truth, the whole truth, nothin' but the truth.

"God Told Me to End the Tyranny in Iraq" — George W. Bush

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." — Benjamin Franklin

"I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America." — French philosopher Alexis DeTocqueville

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The Gross National Debt

Price of Addiction
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to Foreign Oil



"I've seen the future, I can't afford it." — Martin Fry



Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

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What is the "Wake-Up Wal-Mart" campaign all about?
Well, there are two visions for America: Wal-Mart's America, where profits come before people, and my vision, where people come first.

In Wal-Mart's America, workers are paid poverty level wages even when they work full-time.
In my America, workers are paid a living wage with proper health and retirement benefits.

In Wal-Mart's America, wealthy companies shift their health care costs onto taxpayers like you and your families.
In my America, corporations live up to their responsibility and provide their employees with adequate and affordable health care coverage.

In Wal-Mart's America, suppliers are forced to make their goods cheaper even if it means shipping U.S. jobs overseas.
In my America, we value U.S. jobs and companies that buy and sell "Made in America."

In Wal-Mart's America, women are paid less than men.
In my America, women and men are treated equally - fair pay for everyone.

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OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on the bailout.
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on FISA.
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on the endless "War on Terror".
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on the endless "War on Drugs".
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on continuing the Bush tax cuts.
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on impeachment.
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong to not prosecute the Bush torture team.
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong to appoint the criminals who caused the financial crisis to positions responsible for fixing it.

See what blind hope will get you? I voted for Cynthia McKinney.

I pledge allegiance to NO FLAG. Certainly not one that stands for corruption, injustice, murder, genocide, torture, invasion of privacy and unlawful search and seizure. With liberty and the free pursuit of happiness for corporations and the criminals who run them. Bankruptcy, hunger and homelessness for the rest.

America: land of the deceived, home of the afraid. Fear level: ORANGE

Brought to you by so-called "democracy" from what was once described as "the greatest country in the world". Today we are the greatest polluters of the world, proclaimed proudly by George W. Bush at the G8 Summit on 7/10/08. By my count, we lost the moral high-ground at least as early as 1962. In that year, the United States began pouring Monsanto products over the globe, killing crops and foliage, poisoning habitats, and causing pain, suffering and birth defects yet today. Since then, we have also insisted on using depleted uranium munitions which have created environmental disasters that we take no resposibility for cleaning up. Chemical and radiation poisoning: the coward's gifts of death. And ones that keep on giving for generations to come.

I wish not to live in a failed fascist empire that roams the world MURDERING and TORTURING for oil.

GOD DAMN the Terrorist States of America!


"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison." — Henry David Thoreau

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"To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor." — Martin Luther King, Jr.


"Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that a more compelling American tradition forbids criticism of the government when the nation is at war...Nothing can be more destructive of our fundamental democratic traditions than the vicious effort to silence dissenters." — Martin Luther King, Jr.


"Everyone knows that this country is being run by a criminal syndicate that has rigged elections, hidden its knowledge of the 9-11 attacks, lied the country into war, plotted to out an important CIA undercover operative and then obstruct a criminal investigation into that treasonous act, subverted most of the articles of the Bill of Rights, emasculated the Congress and the Courts (which it has also shamelessly packed with shameless hacks), betrayed veterans, surrendered a major American metropolis to the devastation of a hurricane, plotted to enable the declaring of martial law, tortured kidnapped and killed people in violation of international law and obstructed efforts to deal with the unprecedented crisis of global warming for an unconscionable seven years." — Dave Lindorff, award-winning journalist, former New York Times contributor, graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, two-time Journalism Fulbright Scholar, and co-author, with Barbara Olshansky, of the book The Case for Impeachment.


I supported Dennis Kucinich in the primaries and caucuses


I supported Cynthia McKinney in the general


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Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Senator Boxer on the Bailout Bill and my Reply

Statement Of Senator Barbara Boxer on the Financial Rescue Legislation
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Thank you to those Americans whose outrage at the original Administration blank check bailout stopped that arrogant proposal in its tracks.

We were all stunned. They and their allies were telling us the fundamental of our economy were strong just two weeks before. They had failed to use the powers Congress gave them to stop bad mortgages. Where was the oversight in their proposal? Where was taxpayer equity? Where was the control over CEO pay?

The answer back from Mr. Paulson on a phone call with dozens of Senators was: No restrictions on this bailout. Well, count me out!

A far better plan emerged from the Banking Committees. But for me, it didn’t do enough. I wrote to Mr. Paulson urging smaller installments, reforms, and I pushed for direct investment or loans, rather than toxic asset purchases. We didn’t get it, but in this Senate legislation, we did get more FDIC protection for bank depositors, which is crucial to deterring an epidemic of bank closures, something that was at the heart of the Great Depression. Broader FDIC protection will help small businesses who need certainty meeting payrolls—that is where working families come in.

Most working families today can’t miss even one paycheck given our high cost of living. We need to retain and create jobs, which is why I support another change in this legislation—$16 billion in tax incentives for job-producing, renewable energy businesses. Plus, there is billions more in tax relief for businesses and individuals. We lost 84,000 jobs in August alone—we must act. Another provision, originally written by Senators Wellstone and Domenici, will keep many families from going bankrupt by ensuring that mental health illness will be covered fairly. So this legislation before us is much improved and I hope it passes.

MY REPLY:

I read your statement on the bailout. I agreed with your reservations and concerns about the first bill that went to the House. And you held out for an increase of the FDIC limits. And that alone made it all better for you?!? Why not $700B for America and $16B for the speculators?

My net worth has plummeted in the last year some 70%. I don't even have $100,000 to breach the old FDIC limit.

You sold us out. You handed Paulson a blank check that I cannot afford.

The writing is on the wall. It says: GAME OVER

Shame on you.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

TRUTH: Proud to support Cynthia McKinney, Green Party candidate for President

with all due respect and thanks to "Sander" (sand3995), originally published at Reuters.com on July 14, 2008:

The Green Party of the United States today nominated truth activist and seasoned politician Cynthia McKinney for U.S. President. In her 12 years in Congress, McKinney distinguished herself for questioning Donald Rumsfeld under oath about missing trillions at the Pentagon. She introduced articles of impeachment and asked questions about the 9/11 attacks, in 2002, when such skepticism was not tolerated from public figures.

McKinney's story includes many accomplishments as a legislator. She has been the conscience for a misguided nation. But the other half of her story is not what she has done, but what has been done to her. She took the blows of fierce reaction when the political establishment and corporate centrist media attacked her for violating the taboo that demanded silence about 9/11. In 2002, GOP strategists used a special "crossover" strategy to get their voters to vote in the Democratic primary for a fake Democrat substitute for McKinney. She came back in 2004. After introducing articles of impeachment and holding congressional hearings into 9/11, Capitol Police pretended not to recognize her, which sparked a confrontation with a frustrated McKinney. The media claimed she punched a cop. McKinney lost re-election in 2006.

So it was a comeback of another kind today. Greens all over the convention today were fond of quoting Jesse Jackson who said "the Democratic Party is where progressive politics go to die." In her speech today, McKinney spoke of annually swearing to herself that all the maiming, and bombing of children, and killing of peoples that our government does, is not done in her name. Recently, she decided to make that statement more real.

350 Green delegates from as far away as Hawaii, Montana, and Rhode Island voted today for a choice of four candidates plus a few stray votes for Nader, the ghost in the machine. McKinney was the clear winner. It was a landslide. It was politics at a whole new level. After seven years of struggling to dig up the truth on 9/11, how refreshing is it to hear the biggest third party have a champion asking "what did they know and when did they know it?" in her acceptance speech. This is not a cottage industry of idle speculation. 9/11 is now a national political issue. So is Katrina. So is Pentagon accountability. So is impeachment.

But really the issue for me is McKinney herself. We are lucky in the Green Party that she has come to us. Our first star. Our first media-rich, well-known, well-loved and much-hated, loaded, messianic, prophetic, truth-telling figure. Obama seems wispy when you imagine them side by side for any reason. McKinney has a gravitas. A serious mass to her passion for TRUTH. Truth is in some ways her strongest campaign slogan. It was one of the signs hoisted aloft today as she won. Black background, big white letters, with the campaign logo below. Truth. A people living in darkness have seen a great light. Truth. The movement for truth has been given a candidate. This is the moment I came for.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Tim Russert, RIP

I can't say anything about Russert from before the recent Presidential Debates. But his performances in them clearly cast him as a GE-NBC puppet. Thanks not at all, Tim, for all the nonsense race-gender-and-religion baiting questions during the so-called "debates" you "moderated". Here's a good one: "Senator Obama, what's your favorite Bible verse?" What drivel.

It's a good thing you helped to get Dennis Kucinich blocked out of the debates before he started asking embarrassing (and important) questions about, for instance, how much GE stands to profit from an endless war on terror, or how much GE stands to profit from increased investment in nuclear power -- just as long as we ignore the environmental impossibility of disposing of nuclear waste. Apparently you thought that in 8 years we'd gone from a country who merely wanted a President we'd like to have a beer with, to a country who merely wants a President we'd like to go to church with. And if that's true, we'll get 8 more years of exactly what we deserve, a hack psuedo-President, and we'll be left wondering how things could go so awfully, terribly wrong, again. Thanks not at all, Tim, for your help in further dumbing-down the political discourse in this country.

Given all the kudos here from people who knew you for much longer than I, I must conclude that your final performances must have been your most despicable. For $5 million a year, your inane questions delivered to the American people anecdotes where they deserved policy positions, and sound-bites where they deserved substantive answers. And you delivered such blather in spades, keeping the masses perfectly distracted, no doubt to the delight of your employers. That's what I call a sellout. Another Great American Hypocrite. RIP

Unfortunately for us, there are plenty of empty media-heads at the ready to pick up your torch. God help us.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

A Letter to My Elected Officials

DO NOT perpetuate the IRAQ OCCUPATION aka the WAR OF LIES in my name.

DO NOT CONTINUE GENOCIDE by DEPLETED URANIUM POISONING in Iraq in my name.

STOP THE USE OF TOTURE in my name.

DO NOT take any military action against Iran in my name.

CEASE distributing the lies of the 9/11 commission in my name, and tell the world what REALLY happened that day.

RETURN THE MEDIA to the PUBLIC INTEREST, and out of the hands of treasonous corporations who lie to try to keep the people complacent.

PROSECUTE the treasonous telephone companies who have not protected my privacy rights under the law.

REMOVE THE WAR CRIMINALS from office, which is your constitutional duty.

DO NOT TAKE A HOLIDAY until you have done the work you were elected to do.

Remember, if you allow EXECUTIVE BRANCH CRIMINALS to remain in power, you are implicitly a CRIMINAL.

If I don't demand that you do your job, I AM A CRIMINAL.

I do not wish to HANG (physically or morally) next to GW BUSH and his cronies.

Thank you in advance for doing your Constitutional duty. HANG for eternity next to GW BUSH if you don't.

By order of:The People of the United States
To: All Members of Congress
From: The People You Serve

You are officially informed that effective March 12, 2008, all leave, vacation, passes and family visits are hereby CANCELLED.

You are ordered to remain at your posts until all U.S. troops and “private contractors” are removed from Iraq and Afghanistan, and all the wars are ended. You may not go home until all the troops are home.

Warning: Any violation of these orders will be prosecuted to the full extent of the constitution of the United States.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Who Shall I Waterboard Today?
(it's legal in the United States)

As you ponder the possibilities for your lunchtime entertainment, you may be interested in viewing the latest snapshots from Abu Ghraib. Brought to you by Democracy from the greatest country in the world! (originally published at http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/multimedia/2008/02/gallery_abu_ghraib)

Let the world never forget who the true terrorists are -- War Criminals George W. Bush and Dick Cheney -- the ones who insist that torture is legal, necessary and provides a wealth of reliable intelligence. The same ones who insist we must immunize treasonous corporations like AT&T and Verizon to keep ourselves safe from terrorists, you know, the other ones.

Will you demand that your elected representatives begin impeachment proceedings NOW? Or are you content to allow them to continue committing War Crimes in your name?

WARNING: The following photos contain explicit and gruesome images, depicting nudity, degradation, simulated sex acts and guards posing with decaying corpses.

Just another average day if you're unfortunate enough to be held in Abu Ghraib or some other secret United States black detention site, with convenient locations throughout most of the world. COMING SOON TO NORTH AMERICA!

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

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WILL YOU BE NEXT?

Our Fascist leaders can choose to take anyone and make them disappear. I hope you or I are not next. But hope is not enough.

This is the story of a Justice of the Peace from a developed-world democracy (Australia) who was arrested wrongly in Pakistan in 2001, then kidnapped and sent illegally to Egypt. There, he was illegally imprisoned and tortured for six months. From there, the United States transferred him to Guantanamo where he was held without trial for another FOUR YEARS.
The rest of the world is shocked and "agog at our inaction". The truth is, in the United States, the mainstream media didn't even report it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/why-barack-obama-got-my-v_b_89017.html

NOW will you demand impeachment of the war criminals? Or will you allow them to continue their reign of terror in your name?

Thursday, January 17, 2008

What, Dennis won't win?!?

Post from StephenDedalus82 on huffingtonpost.com

Kucinich won't win. He's not in this contest. We're past the point where minor candidates who can't get more than 5% of the vote should be at debates to serve as gadflies. We need to hear from our potential nominees in this very close race.

My reply:

We need to hear about topics central to the welfare of our country. Dennis' voice was thunderous in its absence as the pundits later remarked that the Democrats (the ones who were allowed to debate) were generally in agreement on many issues.

That's because no one had the balls to ask the tough questions.

The primary process is supposed to show the level of backing for the candidates' IDEAS and IDEALS, MORALS and VALUES. We're not voting for AMERICAN IDOL here. Not voting for the winner is NOT a wasted vote.

Who discussed single payor health care (even though it would put me out of a job -- don't tell my employer)?

Who discussed impeachment of the war criminals (even though to ignore this makes us all war criminals?)

Who discussed the loss in value of the dollar against virtually every world currency except the Mexican peso? (now that I have money saved for retirement, shall I just sit here and watch it turn worthless?)

Who discussed the problem of consolidation of the media?

Who discussed getting out of this illegal war of lies NOW?

I hear plenty of garbage already from the candidates who have enough money to BUY media time. I want to hear their answers to the tough quesions. The media doesn't ask the tough questions, preferring to cover BS such as the Obama-Clinton "race feud". I'm afraid democracy is dead in America. Free speech is certainly dead in America, except in "free speech zones".

And evidently you're not going to help change that Mr. StephenDedalus82. How much money have YOU made off of this war?

So, pick the warmonger or fearmonger or millionaire of your choice -- among the ones that GE allows. With voices like Dennis' silenced, it really doesn't matter. When the USA becomes the next 3rd world country, don't say you weren't warned.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Feds Forbid California from Cleaning the Air

EPA to California: Choke on your smog.

California, 17 other states denied Clean Air Act Waiver to cut automobile global warming pollution

Originally posted at http://ed.org/pressrelease.cfm?contentID=7471
(Washington DC – December 19, 2007). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stunned the nation today by denying California and 17 other states the right to proceed with regulations that would reduce global warming pollution from new automobiles.

“EPA is not following science or the law,” said Jim Tripp, general counsel for Environmental Defense.

“This decision is like pulling over the fire trucks on their way to the blaze,” said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense “For 40 years, EPA administrators have recognized the important role that California plays in innovating new standards to fight pollution.”

The Supreme Court ruled decisively in April 2007 that EPA does have the authority and the obligation to regulate global warming emissions. Two other federal courts – the 2nd district court in Vermont in September and the 9th district court in California earlier this month – also enforced states’ rights to proceed with clean car rules. The federal courts also dismissed automakers’ claims that they did not have the technology to meet such standards.

EPA denied California’s waiver, saying that new CAFE standards in the recently authorized energy bill would suffice to reduce global warming emissions from new automobiles.

“The administration is putting the brakes on state action to address the global warming crisis,” said Vickie Patton, deputy general counsel for Environmental Defense and a former attorney in the EPA’s General Counsel’s office. “The Administration’s first bold act on global warming – and it’s to stop the states who are trying to do something about the problem. It is just plain shocking.”

“New CAFE standards, if they go into effect, do not fully phase in until 2020,” said Jim Marston, general counsel for Environmental Defense. “The California greenhouse gas limits will occur earlier - beginning in 2009 and fully phased in by 2016. With the mounting evidence of climate change impacts occurring now, it is imperative that we are take action immediately.”

Nationwide 17 states have awaited a decision by EPA to move forward with clean car standards modeled after California’s including: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Washington. California and these states account for nearly 50% of the total U.S. population and account for approximately 45% of new automobile sales in the country. Implementation of the Clean Cars program in these states would lead to groundbreaking reductions in global warming pollution. By 2020, the program would prevent annual emissions equivalent to 100 million tons of carbon dioxide, a principal heat-trapping greenhouse gas. These savings would be equivalent to closing over thirty 500 megawatt coal-fired power plants or removing 20 million cars from the road.

Background information:

In 2003, California used its special authority under the Clean Air Act to pass legislation requiring the state's air agency, the California Air Resources Board, to issue regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars. The Clean Cars law, also known as the Pavley law, will reduce carbon emissions by 22 percent by 2012 and by 30 percent by 2016.

On December 21, 2005, California submitted a request for the EPA to waive the Clean Air Act’s preemption bar to cleaner car standards – an action EPA has consistently taken more than 50 times during the past 40 years. EPA initially argued that it did not have the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act until the April 2007 Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts vs. EPA found otherwise.

The Pavley/Clean Cars standards were developed over four years (Legislation: 2002, Regulation: 2003, 2004, Administrative law review: 2005) with careful and measured technical review and public input. In contrast, the waiver denial seems to have been developed during the course of a couple of weeks, once the White House directed EPA to deny the waiver. The decision doesn’t appear to have any connection to the testimony and public comment received, in which EPA received a record-setting number of comments, and heard from some of the world’s leading scientists, engineers, government officials and even former EPA administrators. Only the auto industry opposed granting the waiver.

The State of California, under the auspices of Governor Schwarzenegger and the Attorney General’s office, filed a lawsuit against the federal EPA to force a decision on the state’s waiver request to implement its clean cars law, AB 1493. Please go to our website (http://www.environmentaldefense.org/page.cfm?tagID=15503) for more detailed background.

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Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. www.environmentaldefense.com
This is What Democracy Looks Like in the Fascist States of America

Police, protesters clash in New Orleans

Racist and shameful.
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