THE PROGRESSIVE PATRIOT
An American Liberal
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Wolf Petitions and More


Wolf Petitions:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/162420023 (deadline soon)

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-swedens-wovles-from-death

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-wolf-poaching

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/7/stop-killing-our-wolves-in-alaska-and-the-usa

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-gray-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/wolves-need-you-now-please-save-them

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/weekly-howl-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ask-ken-salazar-to-step-down

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/917996645

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/212960066

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-second-extincton-of-wolves-in-the-wild

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/165659664

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/418108793

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/624868053

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/376954730

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/10/stop-hunting-of-wolves-in-north-america

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-gray-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/re-instate-british-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/help-save-wolves-worldwide

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/help-swedish-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/24/save-the-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/save-wolves-the-beautiful-creatures

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/22/save-the-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/wolves-in-slovakia-need-help

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/stop-sarah-palins-cruel-aerial-killing-of-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/37/stop-killing-endangered-animals-and-all-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/252884015

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-our-alaskan-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/27/help-protect-swedish-wolfs

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/133558152

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/kjemp-for-de-siste-rovdyrene-help-us-to-save-the-last-top-predators

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-gray-wolf-slaughter

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/23/save-the-wolves

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/the-wolf-petition

 

OTHER PETITIONS

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1894&autologin=true&c=weekly_enews

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5154/t/9063/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=1692

https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1691&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr004=h0s0504vx7.app223a

http://www.environmentnewjersey.org/clean-water/fish-kills?id4=ES

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=1tFqyyM6BplJSRMurPMbO6G2tFzacl2%2B

https://secure3.convio.net/gpeace/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=624&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr004=zirlhc5406.app332a


http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/campaign.faces?siteId=3&campaign=ASPCAHorsePetition&ThirdPartyClicks=EEA_030110_HorsePetition_m 
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/397317936

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/stop-brutal-horse-fighting-in-china

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ban-dog-and-cat-meat-in-china

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/14/in-support-ofthe-principles-and-aims-of-wwwcavaliermattersorg

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/482/petition-to-stop-brookhaven-towns-law-banning-feeding-feral-cats

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/leave-african-wilddogs-in-africa

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ban-hunting-of-grizzly-bears-in-canada

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/get-better-food-and-recreation-in-nursing-homes-and-group-facilities

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ucla-is-profiting-from-animal-torture

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/help-clean-up-the-sepulveda-wildlife-preserve

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/shelter-will-kill-this-dog-instead-of-returning-to-owners

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/next-time-200-dogs-will-die-drownedun-nuovo-canile-per-monterotondo

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/188/justice-for-the-pit-stop-puppy39s

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/denmark-obey-your-law-on-animals-in-circus

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/help-stop-abusive-gooserides-in-belgium

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/205866247

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-bonobo

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/protect-moray-firth-dolphins

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/painted-dog-exports-to-far-east

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/108252854

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/denmark-obey-your-law-on-animals-in-circus

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-tawatinaw-river

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/The-Wildlife-Trade-Tiger-Temple-Behind-the-Cloak-of-Buddha

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/medical-tragedy-inexcusable-newborn-dies

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/send-emails-to-end-the-seal-hunt---we-dont-stop-fighting-until-the-seal-hunt-end-forever

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/stop_animal_abuse_amend_the_prevention_of_cruelty_to_animals_act_1960

http://www.change.org/kinship_circle/actions/view/the_iditarod_dog_sled_race_hurts_and_kills_dogs

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/take_action_for_the_unwanted_dogs_of_taiwan

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/speak_out_against_the_python_hunt

http://www.change.org/nwf/actions/view/help_protect_the_american_pika_from_global_warming

http://www.change.org/nwf/actions/view/tell_the_senate_protect_polar_bears_from_global_warming

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/faxes_and_letters_needed_in_animal_torture_case

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/sign_your_name_in_support_of_a_universal_declaration_on_animal_welfare

http://www.change.org/kinship_circle/actions/view/end_live_bait_dog_training_in_indiana

http://www.change.org/wilderness/actions/view/stop_expanded_logging_in_alaskas_tongass_national_forest

http://www.change.org/greenpeacefund/actions/view/stop_commercial_whaling_now

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/tell_huffington_post_to_stop_spreading_misinformation_about_pit_bulls

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/help_end_wildlife_trade

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/say_no_to_captive_pandas?

http://homelessness.change.org/actions/view/tell_miami_not_to_punish_people_for_feeding_the_homeless

http://www.change.org/greenpeacefund/actions/view/tell_president_obama_dont_overturn_the_whaling_ban

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/ban_fur_farming_in_finland

http://www.change.org/wilderness/actions/view/tell_congress_to_permanently_protect_the_arctic_national_wildlife_refuge

http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=24&ea.campaign.id=5827&ea.param.extras=Source:UAN

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-kenyas-lake-turkana

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/save-the-tongass-stop-the-s-881-bill

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ritual-killing

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-iditarod

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/natural-horsemanship-horse-abuse

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/action-day-march-15-join-wordwide-protests-against-the-seal-hunt-in-canada

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ban-joan-rivers

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-african-elephants-from-poachers

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/usps-allows-animals-to-be-sent-priority-mail

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ban-on-interstate-shipping-of-pets

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/encouage-guardanimal-use-no-more-traps

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/set-killer-whales-free

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/312369699

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/feral-cats-of-beverly-hills

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/animal-shelter-cruel-and-horrific-killings

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/2000-clubbed-dogs-in-asylum-to-local-feteni

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/997920804

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/hb-543-alert-help-fight-bsl-in-florida

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-craigslist-from-supporting-child-prostitution-and-human-trafficking

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ChinaAnimalProtectionLaw

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/renounce-slaughtering-lambs-for-easter

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/9/please-make-phone-calls-to-help-end-the-seal-hunt

http://education.change.org/actions/view/save_the_addictive_disorder_studies_educational_program_at_oxnard_college

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/support_hr_4416_the_great_ape_conservation_reauthorization_amendments_act_of_2010

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/help_ensure_that_animal_torture_remains_a_crime_in_brazil

http://www.change.org/chuckanutconservancy/actions/view/real_protection_for_blanchard_mountain

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/renounce_the_slaughtering_of_lambs_for_easter

http://www.change.org/defendersactionfund/actions/view/urge_president_obama_to_end_the_war_on_wolves


http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/campaign.faces?siteId=3&campaign=DOWPolarBear&ThirdPartyClicks=ETA_031110_DOWPolarBear_F

http://action.peta.org.uk/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=5&ea.campaign.id=1806

http://www.nrdconline.org/site/R?i=22B3_h6D0e2S_L_1LAUolA

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/18/president-obama-lets-save-the-polar-bears

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/31/help-protect-the-snow-leopards

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/help-the-primates-in-marak-island

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/stop-vivisection-now

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-palins-aerial-wolf-killing-program

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ban-all-facebook-groups-that-are-hateful-to-animals

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/maximum-sentence-for-starving-farm-animals

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/help-for-miia

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/190/justice-for-george-the-pit-bull-puppy-killed-as-act-of-revenge

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/337839958

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/dark-secret-of-the-tigers-farm-in-china

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/202030106

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/whale-meat-sold-as-sushi

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/waza-no-more-dolphins-in-captivity

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/254851459

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stopcrabsales

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/dont-eat-dogs-or-cats

http://animals.change.org/actions/view/stop_the_slaughter_of_elephants_for_ivory_3

http://www.change.org/friendsofanimals/actions/view/boycott_alaska_until_the_state_stops_targeting_wolves

Thank you formaking this world a better place

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Posted by Leslie Blanchard at 3/10/2010 1:05 PM | Add Comment

Bear Roar Where Is the Man I Voted For?

© Leslie Blanchard

I have been putting off writing this- hoping something would change. Well something changed that has forced me to write it.

I voted for Mr. Obama. Mr. Obama is not the President I voted for.

Gitmo is still open.

He promised a tax credit of $500 for workers-in fact he promised 95% of workers would benefit from this. He compromised bowing to Republican pressure and lowered it to $400. Not a huge deal unless you are one of the people that don't even make enough to pay income tax, or the people that have to go to food banks, or Toys for Tots for help. That $100 means a lot to THEM.

Here's a direct quote of a promise that has been BROKEN. "No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration."

So what happened?  Well he granted waivers to several former lobbyists, allowing them to serve in his administration. 
The Administration  has also granted recusals, where former lobbyists simply recuse themselves from discussions concerning whatever interest it is for which they used to lobby. The recusals have not been made public, and we don't know how many have been issued. Or if they are even being enforced.

If you are waiting on him to make good on his promise to make citizenship easier for undocumented immigrants in 2009. That's been put on hold- at least that's what he said in a speech to the leaders Of Canada and Mexico.  But to please his right-wing friends he put into the health reform restrictions to specifically bar illegal immigrants from using their own money to purchase health insurance through any new health insurance exchanges. So now we can dictate how people spend their money? If this is so then I want legislation demanding the top 1% of our population spend their money to pay for the other 99% of the populations health care! Fair is fair.

His campaign pledge to end taxes for seniors making less than $50,000 has fallen by the wayside. It wasn't the economic stimulus bill, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It wasn't in his first submitted budget proposal. In fact- it's not mentioned anywhere except in campaign speeches.

End DODT- please....he doesn't think it's important. We can send 30,00 additional troops to Afghanistan without doing a damn thing for Gay and Lesbian soldiers who risk their lives for the very people that discriminate them.

And about Afghanistan- I seem to remember a promise that the first week he was in office he would begin "ramping down" the war in Afghanistan. Or was I high on the medicinal marijuana I use. OH WAIT- that's still illegal.

One thing that really jazzed me that he promised was that there would be 5 days of public comment on proposed legislation to help stop bills being rushed thru in the middle of the night without our knowledge. Well that jazz has hit a sour note. In fact it vaporized into nothingness just like the hijacked airplane that supposedly crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11th.

And seeing the huge calamity and hypocrisy of the Bush initiative "no Child Left Behind" Candidate Obama promised double funding for the 21st Century Learning Centers program, so that it can serve 1 million more children. When the White House released its fiscal year 2010 budget request for the Education Department, it requested exactly the same amount in 2010 for the program as it had spent in 2009 -- a bit over $1.1 billion.
Probably because we had to bail out Obama's largest corporate donor- Goldman Sachs.

He promised to recognize the Armenian genocide.His exact words were  "Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term 'genocide' to describe Turkey's slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. … as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."  Well......... not quite. When he went to Turkey he noticeably left the word "GENOCIDE" out of his talk about historical events. Obama's promise, and his statements while a U.S. senator, indicate that he thought the word itself was important. In 2006, a U.S. ambassador was recalled after he used the word "genocide" in reference to Armenia, which spurred Obama to write a letter to then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying that he thought the U.S. position on the issue was "untenable." You can read that missive here.


He promised no penalties on hardship withdrawals from 401K's and retirement funds. He just didn't happen. It slipped every-one's mind in the escalating finical crisis we were going through when he took office. Well- the people that could have so desperately used the help- they didn't forget, they just chalked it up to politics as usual.


Then there was that promise about a $3000 tax credit to companies that added jobs. It died in Congress and President Obama didn't even deliver an obituary for it. Congress felt that it wasn't enough of a credit to inspire anyone to add jobs. Obama must have agreed, as he stepped over the dead bill and went on to keep other promises- not sure what promises- probably ones to Big Pharma.


Okay, I overlooked most of the above. But now we come to the issue that has caused me to have to write this Roar. Health-care. Y'all know that health-care is a cause near and dear to me. It's why I am still alive. I thought it was so cool that he promised the health care debate would be argued and debated publicly on C-SPAN.  That,s only the tip of the ice burg when it comes to his health care reform policy.


First, and I know I'm not a politician but I am a damned stubborn Texas and here in Texas we know you don't start a robust debate with a compromise. Barrack didn't have the cojones to to go into the fight and say "This is what I want! Make it happen!" He basically entered the arena and said "hey guys, I promised health care reform- pass something even if it's nothing like I promised, I don't care just pass something, and oh yeah could ya do it as a Christmas present to me?"


First of all I NEED to know why the hell (censored) we even need Insurance companies??? Why do we need these middlemen? Think about it- what the hell do they really do?  They probably go to Vegas a lot-because  their whole industry is based on betting we won't get sick. And when we do- as I did, they said my multiple Sclerosis was a pre-existing condition and dropped me quicker than a warm cow chip. OK so this bill will "supposedly" prevent that from occurring. But they cut the hell out of Medicare so I and many of you are supposed to just bend over and grab our ankles. Sorry Mr. Pres., M.S. won't let me assume that position. 


Did anyone aside from me, and all the shareholders notice how high insurance companies stocks closed at Friday? Hmm-inside trading? Did they know that they had a dog in the fight that would better even a Michael Vick trained dog? I asked on Twitter a little while ago- WTF this farce of a bill was acceptable??. Someone replied- it was "the best bill money could buy." Just ask Senator Ben Nelson who sold his vote by making all of us pay for Nebraska's Medicaid Program, and cheating women out of the right to choose.


I feel violated. Mr. Obama campaigned as a left of center democrat. I wanted a very progressive democrat but took the only choice offered me. And sure, it made me proud, validated my beliefs by electing a black man President of the United States.  But I was a victim of bait & switch, A lot of us were. He has shown that what he really desire most of all is for people to like him, not rock the boat, don't choose your battles wisely- just don't battle. A line from my favorite move sums it up perfectly. "What we have here.....is Failure to communicate." 


Well I can communicate my message #OBAMA FAIL.


 

Peace ya'll.




 



 

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Posted by Leslie Blanchard at 12/20/2009 1:16 PM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment

Bear Roar for Peace

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Posted by Leslie Blanchard at 12/11/2009 2:22 PM | Add Comment

BEAR ALERTS

© Leslie Blanchard

My life partner calls me "Bear", a nickname she came up with 15 years ago. Her mom, my mother-outlaw also calls me Bear. Oh, BTW I refer to my partner's mother as mother-outlaw, because people won't allow my partner and I to get legally married. The day that happens- I'll call her my mother-in-law.  Anyway that has nothing to do with this post, except to let y'all know I'm called Bear.

For a few weeks now I've been wanting to do a semi-regular post just a quick view on something that has caught my attention, or a shout out about something important. I didn't want these little postings to be like my usual ones, I don't intend to research, or link sources, etc. Just a space to get something off my chest. Sort of like on Family Guy when Peter got a segment on the news called "What really grinds my gears". I couldn't think of a "catchy" little term to call these posts until last night. So I'm going to call them Bear Alerts -and they will come in 3 flavors.

A Bear grumble- these will be just little insights into a trending topic i.e. how I feel about Tiger Woods.

Then we'll have a Bear Growl- something has upset me, or something is important for you to know and mainstream media isn't covering it, etc. 

Then there will be the occasional Bear Roar. When you see that you may want to be sure your kids aren't around cause the fur gonna be flying and I'll be putting a lot of coins into the swear jar.

I've wanted to write on the whole heath care subject-from a personal viewpoint. But I was worried it would look like a "poor me, pity me, my life is so hard" type of article. Most of my readers and friends from Twitter, Facebook, Friend Feed, Blog Catalog and elsewhere know that I don't look at my life that way. I don't dwell on my health and rarely mention it. And most of you know I have 3 pretty serious medical issues. Those being:
1. Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
2. Extremely advanced C.O.P.D.
3. Rheumatoid Arthritis

So here comes the Bear Growl for Thursday Dec. 10th.

When did it become so much damn trouble to take a pill daily? There are all these commercials that imply people are too stupid to take a daily medication and should switch medications to weekly, even monthly ones. Even more worrisome and preposterous is the fact that folks are doing it!

I'm sorry, but if your biggest problem in life is having to take a pill every day then you're among the luckiest S.O.B.'s on the planet. And you're putting out to much carbon dioxide when you whine about it. I mean come on! I take a minimum of 23 pills a day, that's right, a minimum. I also use inhalers several times a day, and have to take my pulse ox every few hours, my blood pressure a few times a day and I used to give myself an injection every day. All of these medications do nothing but treat the SYMPTOMS of my illness's. There are no cures. There are no medicines for that- and that's OK, it's just my life and I don't give it a hell of a lot of thought. 

When I was first diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis we tried one of the few medications that hopefully would stop it from getting worse (the daily injection). But I was already secondary progressive when diagnosed and the shots did nothing, so I quit them. I'm now in the Primary Progressive Course of the illness and all we can do is try and control symptoms. Of the 23 pills not one of them is for pain- they are to lessen the symptoms; spasticity, fatigue, depression, tremors, esophageal spasms, memory loss, speech problems, cognitive problems, falling down, drop foot, massive muscle cramps, peeing thru a tube, trouble swallowing and much more. It takes me several tries to swallow all the damn pills because I have difficulty swallowing due to M.S. but I don't bitch about it. Hell if I only had to take ONE pill a day it'd be cooler than Christmas!

I do have pain pills, mild ones, by choice. I don't take them on a daily basis even though I am in pain every second of the day. Pot would help- but we know that's not legal either. Government is against love and herbal medications. I take Valium and Darvocet only occasional when I can't handle the pain. So if you are going to sit there and tell me that taking 1 pill a day is too inconvenient, if that is your biggest problem in life... shut the F up!!

I am so sick of every other ad on T.V. being from a pharmaceutical company. I think they should be outlawed. They invent a drug-then think of some new "disease" to market it. 15 years ago we never heard of "general anxiety disorder" or "restless leg syndrome". Hell I have restless leg syndrome because there are times when I can't make my legs stop shaking. My arms and hands are like that too- maybe next year we'll have medicine for restless arm syndrome! 

DISCLAIMER: I know people have anxiety disorders, panic attacks and are valid consumers for these drugs. I do not mean to offend anyone that truly needs those medications. But we all know there are many more people taking them than need them. Prescription drug abuse is at an all time high.

The worst part of these commercials is that it takes them 3 times as long to list the "possible side effects" than it does to tell you what the medicine is for. Why can't they get it right- make a medicine that will fix a problem without creating other problems? Hell no- there's no profit margin in that! Then they tell you that you need to go to your Doctor and tell them you want that medicine, and it seems now days a lot of Docs do just give the patient what they ask for.

How about finding a cure for Cancer, for Multiple Sclerosis, for ALS, for Crohn's disease which killed my father-outlaw, or for diabetes which ravaged my Saint of a sister in law for 70 years?  How about you stop thinking about the bottom line, and remember back to when you first decided to be a Chemist or a Doctor, or whatever you are, and inspect the reason you picked your career. If you did it for money all along-then get the hell out of the way of people who picked their careers to help people.

These T.V. commercials, and magazine advertisements are ridiculous. I conducted a little experiment last weekend. I watched 4 hours of television and counted the drug ads- 14! There oughta be a law against that crap. Every one of them were ordering you to march into your Doctor's office and tell them that you want to take this pill. Now I'm a very lucky person- I have a wonderful team of Doctors that listen to me. They understand that I know M.S., R.A., and C.O.P.D. on a level they never will (hopefully). If I am taking a medicine that isn't working we sit down together and decide what to do. We always ALWAYS try to not add any more medication. I am my own best health advocate-and YOU are your best health-care advocate. Don't be afraid to question the doctor, especially when it comes to medications. If they want to take you off a daily treatment and put you on a once a month treatment- think about that! What did they have to do to engineer the new drug? How did they shrink 30 days of medicine into 1 dose? Do you really want that in your system?

Don't even get me started on medical insurance. Let's just say I lost mine the day I was diagnosed with M.S., they said it was a pre-existing condition. When I decide to write about that it will be a Bear ROAR.

Basically what I wanted to say is, if you can't manage swallowing one pill a day, if you can't remember you have to do that- then I don't want to drive in traffic next to you. I don't want you to be the checkout clerk at my grocery store, or a teller at my bank. If swallowing one little pill is too much for you and you can't "deal" with it- GET A LIFE!

Learn what real problems are. Go to my Twitter page @1txsage1957, then visit my lists page http://twitter.com/1txsage1957/lists  there are 4 lists of Good Causes-with more added daily, charities, NPO's, individual  people, and all they do is try to help other people. Check it out! Maybe you will see how lucky you are that the biggest problem you face is swallowing one pill a day.

And that's it for the 1st Bear Growl, there will be another one when something ticks me off, or jazzes me up, excites  me. Thanks for reading everybody!

Peace


 

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Posted by Leslie Blanchard at 12/10/2009 12:26 PM | View Comments (7) | Add Comment

The Power Came Back On and My Brain Shutdown

© Leslie Blanchard

Our power went out about 90 minutes ago, I was distressed. But as I got used to the notion that I was going to have to wait an hour or more, I pulled out my little handy-dandy tape recorder and started working on a new piece for my blog.

The following is what occurred.

"The story of social struggle throughout history is that defeats take place, but people persist. If there's fundamental grievance that remains, people may remain quiet for a while, but people ultimately will rise up against it and things will change."  Howard Zinn

I have the utmost respect for Mr. Zinn. However, I don't see that occurring in the world of 2009 going forward. The corporatists, The New World Order, The powers that be, the whatever you want to call them, I think have successfully lobotomized us as a culture. They've molded us to be consumer monsters, no- consumer zombies. Empty, pathetic little people who only feel self worth through that which we possess. Even after we have possession of a new item, we are constantly in search of the next, newest, best one of those items and our self worth wanes until we "achieve" the next level. We only preserve our dignity, only feel worthy when we have latest and greatest toys.

This propaganda is broadcast to us from the time we were in the crib until we're in the grave. We see most of it on film, television and movies. But it's creeping into the Internet which was perhaps the last best hope for humanity. Yes, there are people like me who are still able to use the net to get real news out there, and are still able to write pieces like this. But as I am writing this we are fighting for Internet freedom. There is a movement afoot to control, shutdown, electronically supervise the Internet. It's already happening, we all know this- but we just don't have 100% proof of what they are doing with the data they mine from our communications over the Internet.

From the time we are in the womb our mothers and fathers are conditioned to think that they have to do everything they can before we even pop out to ensure that we can get into the "best" pre-k program, the best pre-school. We must fit in to some stereotypical little mold that the powers that be have cast. With proper names, proper values, proper clothes, proper friends, in order to be let into a god-damned kindergarten. And be certain that if we do not start out on that foot, in that acceptable kindergarten education there is an underlying thought rippling around us, in the cosmos, that we are a lost cause, that we are never going to amount to anything. I mean if we can't get into a "good' pre-k, then grammar school and high school are basically useless- because we don't have the correct pedigree so college is almost impossible to get into. They have made it unachievable to afford, unless you are brilliant, have the "right" connections, or are some kind of freaking wonder-kin. I know within my own family a couple of kids that are extremely, extremely smart but are not able to attend college because there is no financial help for them. It's become next to impossible these days for kids to work and put themselves through college- if it can be done it takes years and by the time they receive their degree they are already behind the eight ball,  already behind the rest of the gang out there hunting for jobs.

Jobs which are being shipped overseas right and left, jobs which are being outsourced, jobs which are being made obsolete. We no longer have a manufacturing base left in this country. The idea that we had hoped would occur when we elected Mr. Obama last year, that he would create a whole new manufacturing platform for green jobs, green technology, and that there would be retraining for workers who were losing their traditional manufacturing jobs so that they could become part of the green revolution- That's not happening. No advancements have been made.

The unemployment rate goes up each and every month, each and every week. There are no jobs being created to fill the vacuum and the American workers live's just keep sucking.

Yet we are all still brainwashed into believing that Capitalism is the same thing as Democracy. It Is Not! Capitalism is the most undemocratic principle on the face of this earth. Capitalism is in and by itself cannibalism. The only way that Bill Gates, or Warren Buffet, T. Boone Pickens, or Michael Dell are able to have the extreme wealth that they have is because 95% of the world has little or no wealth. 6 billion people live below the poverty level.

And By Golly- Gee, Yippy  the POWER IS BACK ON!!! Hot-damn! I'm doin' so good with my little thoughts being recorded and then the electricity comes on! The paranoid part of me says that those who were listening decided they needed to switch the power on in order to get me to shut up.

And don't ya know- they were right? I'm so hooked by the need of my gadgets and my toys and my computer, and my television. That I'm going to quit working on this now, this piece that I have started and go reprogram everything because I feel empty- knowing that they are working and I'm not using them. Sayonara!!!!


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Posted by Leslie Blanchard at 11/18/2009 4:09 PM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment

A Call To (dis) Arms : A Pacifist Manifesto

© Leslie Blanchard

Let me begin by stating that what is written here is not just an attack on the Bush Administration. I am extremely disappointed in the Obama Administration to date. Although there will be more mention of the Bush administration for several reasons. 1. They started both wars discussed 2. I have 8 years worth of history to draw from the Bush Administration compared to 9 months of history for the Obama Administration. With that out of the way...here we go.

"It is easy to be overwhelmed or intimated by the realization that the war makers have enormous power. But some historical perspective can be useful, because it tells us that at certain points in history, governments find that all their power is futile against the power of an aroused citizenry." Howard Zinn

I wonder if any of you are having an overwhelming feeling of deja vues like I am. I'm pretty certain that the administration is carefully laying the groundwork for a U.S. invasion in Iran. Having learned from the previous administration how not to propagandize a "preemptive war" i.e. illegal invasion of a Foreign Sovereign State,
the Obama team is getting the United Nations, The Council on Foreign Nations and the IAEA involved, and moving much more slowly than did his predecessor. But come on, do they really think ALL of us have been turned into the blind, unthinking sheeple they have worked so hard to create? Maybe it's just an unpleasant hint in the back of your mind, or a nagging worry, or a known that you don't want to give voice too- but I think most of us believe that war with Iran is in our near future.

And I admit that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (I'm a dinner jacket), is a whack job. Perhaps insane, perhaps not. He's definitely a news whore and enjoys the spotlight. He enjoys it so much that he makes ridiculous statements such as "death to Israel" and that the entire solution to the Mid-East "problem" is to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, who knows if he has the cojones to do so? In the remote chance that he fully intends to do just that, so be it. Israel is also a Sovereign State and can defend herself. Sure it's nice when you can help your buddy out when they are in a fight, but umm, I don't recall their forces joining ours in Afghanistan or Iraq. And frankly, we can't even pay for the 2 illegal wars we are in, let alone start a new one to protect our "friend".

I don't have anything in particular against Israel- I just don't think they are that good of a friend. I mean America is bankrupt yet we still send $10 million dollars a day  to the country ranked 27Th richest in the world. A true friend would say, "oh we can make due, you guys need it more than we do." We borrow money like a junkie begging for a fix from numerous countries, not the least of which is China, to loan to Israel, while 35 million Americans  go hungry in the "land of plenty." 

Our elected officials in Congress were willing to impeach ol' Tricky Dick Nixon for breaking into a building, but the last Congress and the present Congress have not/will not impeach/convict George Bush and his cronies for breaking into a COUNTRY!  They were more than happy to impeach President Clinton for his sexual peccadillo's (nothing that unusual with American politicians) but never even considered impeaching George W. Bush for deregulating every facet of American Industry which turned the wealth of this country over to the already "super-rich".  Now this Democratic Congress sits idly by while people march in the streets calling the current President everything from Fascist to Socialist to Witch Doctor for his attempts to try and regain some of the bootee the last administration pirated from ordinary American citizens. All these outraged teabaggers and their ilk that abhor the "redistribution of wealth" weren't screaming so loud, or at all when the previous administration redistributed wealth on such a grandiose scale. Clearly the lunatics are running the asylum.

I've called the Bush-Cheney Administration out a number of times on these pages as being an "Imperial Presidency".
And so far it appears that the Obama-Biden Administration is following their lead. But historically, Imperial Powers tend to get too cocky, to big for their britches- they consistently over reach because they have forgotten that real power does not lay in Military power. Over time, citizens come to rebel, human beings rediscover their humanity and begin to resist the inhumane policies their rulers sanction. The United States with 10,000 nuclear weapons could not win in Korea or Viet Nam. We couldn't prevent wars and revolutions in countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, or Honduras. Just as the USSR with their huge Army and nuclear weapons had to retreat from Afghanistan (just as the U.S. will be forced to do eventually). The USSR couldn't stop Lech Walesa in Poland, or even prevent the shattering of its own union. War and military mightiness destroys but it can not build. Human nature dictates that we build, we improve, we update, we reach for something better.

Change in the public ideology, the group consciousness starts slowly, it smolders in disparate patches across the country with no apparent connection. The small embers of public discontent is caused by the actions of government politicos. Eventually these smoldering fires consume more dissatisfaction and merge into a wildfire of protest. The last 9 years have served to speed the building of public combustion. This resentment and desolation we are feeling were knowingly caused by the United States Government over reaching. Perhaps it started when the 2000 presidential election was stolen from us, increasing when more and more deregulation allowed American jobs to be shipped off shore, coupled with the rape of the U.S. Constitution and our loss of privacy via the Patriot Act. It may be about to culminate with the 2 ongoing un-win-able "wars without end."

We did the best we could as citizens, we voted out the previous Congress and 2 years later we elected a newcomer as President. Based on his idyllic speech's and the false promise of change we so desperately longed for. America's discontent with the status quo was shown worldwide last November when we elected a man that fit with the Congress who we believed would propagate that change.

Sadly, the change has not come. If anything the discontent has turned into a raging 3 alarm fire and has split the country in half like the proverbial third rail. No one is happy. No one is secure and no one knows what to do with their disappointment. More and more people are listening to fear mongers, impotent "infotainers" and taking to the streets. Although we vary greatly in our rhetoric and ideals, in our proposed solutions, we are all standing on the same field of broken dreams and promises. We are united in our distaste of government and politics as usual.

We are tired of spending $720 million a day  for bullets & bombs that send Iraqi children to the Baghdad Hospital. Dollars which could/should be used to pay down our debt, to keep people in their homes, to provide health-care for every person in America. Dollars which could be used to stop the river of blood our young soldiers spill daily to protect our river of oil, dollars which could be used in creating new jobs in industry developing alternative forms of energy.

Out of this quagmire could rise a righteous army of pacifists and war opponents. The numbers of Americans against these 2 illegal wars are growing steadily each day, while the number of supporters diminish. Yet nothing is slowing down the war effort. In fact, we are debating another surge of worn out troops in country, while the groundwork is quietly being laid for another preemptive war in Iran. This is the process of Disaster Capitalism. Disaster capitalism and  Corporatist Fascism are what has replaced our grand beautiful experiment of Democracy. The United States is no longer a democracy , for by definition a democracy is a system of government where the people either govern themselves or elect representatives to carry out the wishes of the people. Thus, it's been quite a spell since America has been a true democracy.

If we do not rise up soon to quell the advent of war without end it will be to late. Rebellions are most often born of cultural stock. We need to take inventory of our stock and organize a "battle plan".  I use that term specifically because that is the only term the other side will comprehend.

It won't be an easy battle, our foes are the wealthiest among us, many of them elected officials in the pockets of disaster capitalists. As discussed in my last piece the media only covers what its shareholders want to hear. Our foes will use the Patriot Act, resort to name calling, and physical confrontation as witnessed during the peaceful protests at the G-20 last week. They will do their damnedest to bait us into physical conflict. They are bullies armed with money, media control, store bought politicans and disaster capitalists.

You may wonder how we can defeat them. The odds seem overwhelming. But on our side we have the most powerful weapon known to mankind- TRUTH and as long as we can keep speaking truth to power, truth to lies, the more people will understand and join us. We need to use all means at our disposal to spread the truth. As long as the Internet remains free, which is in serious question at present, it is our best friend and best tool. Sites like Facebook, Change.org, Care2, and many more provide a virtual meeting hall for us to bring new members on board. And as proven by my own success - Twitter & Friend Feed are powerful sources to get the word out, to speak truth to power and bullies.

We must not back down. We must not feel outnumbered. We must not be fearful that our names may end up on some "list" somewhere. The teabaggers and 9/12ers and fanatical right wing nut groups are on Homeland Security's watch list, but it has not slowed or deterred them.

The people we oppose- the Corporatists, the Disaster Capitalists have no regard for human life, or justice, let alone freedom.

As pacifists many of us dislike the terms I am using; "weapons","battle", "war", but it is these terms with which we must generate the courage of our convictions. For if we do not, we will know a world that believes war without end is the natural way, that believes blood, money, weapons, global genocide and slavery is our destiny.

Throughout history flyers, broadsides, and pamphlets have inspired movements. Poems have sparked revolutions. Civil disobedience, truthful discourse, and a united citizenry have toppled dictatorships. And we must now join together, bound by truth, welded by compassion, motivated by love; join together to save our great American Experiment of Democracy.

If we fail to do so- it will fall by the wayside and be swept away like so much flotsam in their rivers of blood. 
Have a listen to the man.

-30-

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Posted by Leslie Blanchard at 10/6/2009 9:34 AM | View Comments (7) | Add Comment

Welcome to 1984- 25 years late

© Leslie Blanchard

Imagine a world where people fear that their opinions cannot be expressed freely (Patriot Act) ("you're either with us or you're with the terrorists"), where leaders are not held accountable for their deceptions (George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, "we do not torture"), and perpetual war is waged against an unseen enemy ("War on Terror" ); a world where ignorance is strength (teabaggers, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, right-wing extremists), freedom is slavery (workers who can barely live paycheck to paycheck while the corporations they toil for reap record profits),  war is peace (Afghanistan, Iraq) and Big Brother is watching you (Patriot Act).

George Orwell created this world more than half a century ago in his novel 1984, but as we can see above, his "fiction" was truly "prediction", for that is the world we live in today. How did we get here?

Corporatists  world wide have had their government minions, their political puppets in the United States and abroad  set in motion and/or carried out the tasks that now enthrone Big Brother. These tasks range from rigged elections in the United States and elsewhere, to free markets,  extreme corporate deregulation, the Patriot Act and much more. Generations of wealthy families such as the Rothschilds, the Rockerfellers,  and others along with board members from many large publicly-traded corporations such as IBM, Xerox, Royal Dutch Shell, Nokia, Daimler, Archer-Daniels-Midland, Goldman Sachs, and board members from large international corporations as well. These people, these families are seeing their greedy, inhumane fantasies nearing full flower.

Within 20 years or less the entire population of the world will be enslaved. Perhaps not in the "traditional" ways that come to mind, but replace the plantation owners with Corporatists and the slave hands with today's working class- and you get the comparison. We will toil to fill the pockets of the Masters and we the people will live without hope, or dreams, we will live with GMO foods which sap our strength, our powers of reason;  we will live with fluoridated water, and aspartame, which serve among other things to dumb us down. We will have no affordable health care and will die without notice of our Corporate bosses. If we do manage to live and produce they will simply wait until we no longer add to their profits, until we are declared old and obsolete at 50 then we will be infected with Morgellons or some other bio-weapon that's been sprayed on us via chem-trails for years. Okay, I admit some things in this paragraph seem too wacky, and I don't necessarily believe all of it- but with what we know about our government- you have to admit that it could be true! Either way we will have to be happy with what little pittance they give us. As many of you know this is already somewhat true today.

In a film version of Orwell's 1984 (which I didn't really care for) we saw that citizens were constantly bombarded with a continual media stream (like 24/7 cable news) with images, hints, references, etc., about a war- but the enemy was never seen. It was ethereal yet terrifying, the enemy was always lurking behind every corner but never seen, enemy soldiers were everywhere yet never seen. In the film there is no real proof that an enemy actually exists except for the reports on the State Controlled (Corporatist Controlled) news media, or testimony from troops who were involved in battle.  Sounds pretty familiar doesn't it?

Have you ever wondered why we have such a high suicide rate  among our troops? Could it be that they know that they are fighting for corporatist profit instead of Freedom & Democracy?

Why has the Government contracted out much of the fighting to corporate mercenaries? Well one reason is that more profits for the puppet masters can be reaped in such manner. And another reason could be that our troops have not been fully indoctrinated to the Corporatist cause and began to see what was really happening in Iraq & Afghanistan.

We hear reports on our 24/7 news feeds that our enemies- Al Qaeda, The Taliban,  the Jihadists,  Muslims, etc., are hiding in caves and mountains, that there are alarming rates of sleeper cells living amongst us, and that "home grown" terrorists are multiplying faster than foreclosures.  But much like Orwell's fiction- these people are never brought in front of us, we never see them. We are led to believe that they have been stopped, that Homeland Security, CIA, FBI...ert., have stopped hundreds of terror attacks inside the U.S. but we never hear details. We are just supposed to believe they have been stopped- either legally or by extraordinary rendition, or they have been disappeared. They use whatever words are palatable for the day- either way it's all a work of fiction-just like Orwell's.

Now these enemies may exist. If they do, it is of little doubt that they have been created by corporate policy's  which leave third world countries broke, starving, and desperate. I myself believe that some terrorists do exist, but I don't buy the numbers we hear, the "sleeper cells" etc. I think that the majority of these reported enemies- these terrorists exist only in the HD transmission waves that attack our reasoning, our daily lives. Media is controlled by corporatists who dictate what should be reported. If you think not- here are a few examples.  

Rupert Murdoch owns News Corp., Fox Broadcasting Co., 85% of Fox Entertainment Group- which includes these holdings. General Electric Owns NBC, USA, Bravo, MSNBC, SciFi. Here are all the American Media owners. You'll notice that a lot of these Media owners also have DOD contracts- coincidence? You be the judge.

If you need more proof that we are fighting a bogey man, an ethereal enemy, consider Lt. General William G. Boykin, once United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, who preached sermons, which he gave in at least 23 churches.  Standing in full uniform he described  "the enemy" thus... "it's not what you can see. It's the enemy in the spiritual realm." Spiritual wars and terrorists are even more invisible than the supposed clandestine sleeper cells, and cave dwellers- the evil doers. Boykin even stated that the leader of our enemy- "the terrorists"- was not Osama bin Laden, but SATAN. He went on to explain that Satan and Muslims had a goal of slaughtering a "moral Christian Army".

If you are still reading this, then some of it-or all of it- is resonating within you. That's a good thing- it goes to show that you haven't been completely brainwashed by the Corporatists whole damn dumb show. It gives us a little bit of hope that maybe, just maybe we can stop this horseshit before it's too late.

Here are some more things to ponder.

1.We are told in an infinite number of ways, some of which are very subtle, some even subliminally, and some extremely bluntly to be fearful of "the terrorists", the "evil-doers".  Remember when all the news channels had us running out to buy duck-tape and sheets of plastic? But we are never warned to be afraid of lightening to stock up on rubber soled shoes. We're never warned to be fearful of prescription drugs or unsanitary hospital conditions. No one tells us not to buy fireworks or to be scared of them. All of these things kill many more people each year than do terrorists.

2.The role of the CIA been stated by many in differing ways but I think Professor Leuren Moret's description is much more accurate, she states, "The CIA's principal job is to get the American citizens to hate certain peoples in the world so much that they will limitlessly spend their money and wealth on war." This is all pretty well laid out in the infamous PNAC document from the Project for the New American Century. 

George W. Bush said, "We're at war with these folks, but they don't wear uniforms,,," they could be anywhere, but we never see them. He went on..."The terrorists' directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews,..." I guess we Buddhist and all my freethinker, atheist friends are safe. 

Bush continues, "to kill and make no distinctions among military and civilians, ..." Here he is trying to get us off the hook for our future killing of so many civilians.

He then declares, "This group and its leader,... are linked to many other organizations in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. " Setting the stage perhaps for future preemptive wars in Egypt & Uzbekistan?  

Then just to broaden and make the scope of our fear raise dramatically he spouts, "There are thousands of these terrorists in more than 60 countries. They are recruited from their own nations and neighborhoods and brought to camps in places like Afghanistan where they are trained in the tactics of terror. "  Strange that he didn't mention Iraq- since Saddam Hussein helped plot and carry out 9/11. Oh wait_! That was just a lie to get us to illegally occupy Iraq.

I also find it strange that in this joint session of Congress held by the President, that no one yelled out "YOU LIE". We all know he lied, why wasn't he called out?

Now, 8 years later we never hear anything about hunting Osama bin Laden, or anyone who was in the infamous deck of terrorist playing cards. No today Homeland Security is too busy being fully focused watching, monitoring,eavesdropping, etc., on ordinary American citizens.

I don't know about you, but the parallels  between Orwell's war and the "war on terror" are just a little to strong for my liking. Wars have always been fought against a known enemy, not against everyday people who "could be a terrorist".  All the puppet-headed politicians have admitted over and over, "we can't see the enemy. They could be anywhere."  So tell me what the hell we are doing killing Afghans, and Iraqis? 

What we are doing is exactly what the Corporatist Megalomaniacs want- setting the stage for them to rule, and profit even more. These terrorists we are fighting now, the invisible, child murdering, Christan slaying animals who could live next door, the ones we can't see with our very own eyes- are created in and dwell in the realm of the Corporatist Media. And it is these people, the Corporatists, that are inflicting terror globally, these are the devils we should be fighting.
-30-


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Posted by Leslie Blanchard at 9/17/2009 12:50 PM | View Comments (13) | Add Comment

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Posted by Leslie Blanchard at 8/22/2009 9:53 AM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment

W.M.D.'s or W.M.D.'s ?

© Leslie Blanchard

When George W. Bush and his lackeys tried to sell the nation on launching a preemptive war against Iraq they knew that they must sell us a convincing reason. After the shock of 9-11, we were all a little scared, stunned in disbelief and looking for leadership. Since we had no leadership we grabbed onto G.W. and his ilk because they had important titles.  Their job was to whip us into a frightened frenzy of blood-lust. Which they did by telling us Saddam Hussein  was partnered with Al Queada, and that he also possessed W.M.D.'s (weapons of mass destruction). They even sold us a bill of goods that somehow these W.M.D.'s were magical disappearing ones, hidden from view by special invisible trucks that could move then to unknown destinations.  We were still stricken by the unbelievable attack on American soil, which we had all taken for granted would never happen. So, in a way it is understandable that we sort of believed him.

What they neglected to tell us (among other things) was the fact that Bush & Cheney also had W.M.D.'s (weak minded delusions). Once we began to see that Saddam had no  magical weapons of mass destruction, Bush & team scrambled quickly to provide us a reason to still support the illegal occupation of Iraq. So they came up with the war cry of " we're there to free the citizens, to liberate them and help set up and spread Democracy.Changing the name of the action to "Operation Iraqi Freedom " Another lie. 

The truth is that our single reason to invade Iraq  was to establish a state of Corporatism, privatization of Iraq's natural resources, and slavery of the Iraqi people. All designed to set up a self perpetuating, never ending cycle of Disaster Capitalism, which is what we now have in Iraq. Though this important fact has been totally neglected by mainstream media, never telling us these facts about the war in Iraq. 
  1. The fighting
  2. The aid
  3. The health care
  4. The reconstruction
are all being carried out primarily by contractors, mercenaries if you will.  Now these mercenaries know that the term "mercenary" leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of American citizens- so they have spent a lot of money on lobbyists.  That's right the hired guns have engaged  hired guns to change their image and erase the word mercenary from the American vocabulary. They tried  re-branding on a massive scale so that companies like KBR, Blackwater, Triple Canopy, would become palatable to us.  Nevertheless that mission failed because we all know what these contractors and corporations are, pure and simple, mercenaries without conscience. 

We never really listened to President  Eisenhower's  warning on  the military industrial complex, or his prediction of a New World Order. Under Bush & Cheney, Eisenhower's feared military industrial complex has warped into the perfect self-sustaining economy of disaster capitalism. A few examples: Lockheed Martin (who at one time had Lynn Cheney on it's board) earns money from the F-22 which drops bombs indiscriminately. Two other players on the team, IAP Worldwide Services Inc.,  and Health Net  earn a profit by taking care of the wounded, both Iraqi & American Contractors. Then a lot of team players swoop in for the reconstruction dollars, to name a few we have Halliburton , CH2M Hill, ExxonMobil, Bechtel, CICA and many others.

As a matter of fact when the Cold War "ended" Lockheed began taking over IT divisions of the United States Government under the public radar. A report in the New York Times in 2004 said..."Lockheed Martin doesn't run the U.S.. But it does help run a breathtakingly big part of it... It sorts your mail and totals your taxes. It cuts Social Security checks & counts the census. It runs space flights & monitors air traffic. To make all that happen Lockheed writes more computer code than Microsoft."

Even more alarming to me is that eighteen months into our illegal occupation of Iraq the State Dept opened a new office that most of us have never heard of "The Office of Reconstruction & Stabilization". Which at any given time pays contractors to draw up detailed plans to reconstruct as many as 25 different countries that "may" at some point in time find themselves "the target of U.S. sponsored destruction." Which makes a lot of sense since the delusional George W. Bush has made statements to the effect that we have the undeniable right to cause unlimited (unwarranted) preemptive destruction anywhere we choose. What he failed to mention was that by year 3 of our illegal occupation there were over 48,000 private soldiers (mercenaries) from around the globe deployed in Iraq. These hired guns were the largest contingent of troops in country except for our American troops. In fact the mercenary population in the fighting totaled more than the combined forces deployed by "the coalition of the willing", combined.

Every wonder why Iraqi citizens get "free" health care while we have the biggest shit hole of a health care in the world? Because we pay for it! We pay taxes which pay Health Net & IAP huge sums of money. While most of the American public is just barely above water, the chosen people, the members of The Family, those who visit C Street often, reap huge profits. Why weren't the victims of Katrina offered at least the same level of reconstruction & medical care that the Iraqi's received? Well, one reason is that we can bomb the crap out of Iran again, setting the whole damn dumb show in action again. We can't very well openly bomb New Orleans. But there was huge disparity in the reconstruction of New Orleans between the haves and the have-nots.  "Katrina was not unforeseeable. It was the result of a political structure that subcontracts its responsibilities to private contractors. And abdicates its responsibility altogether." Harry Belafonte. FEMA controlled gated trailer communities for the have nots, and Crystal Palace Gated Communities for the haves, protected by paid security. In fact another new industry popped up from the rubble of Katrina. Check out, Sandy Springs, Georgia (This city is a bold experiment in public/private partnership. Most services are being handled by the engineering and operations firm CH2M HIll OMI.)

This is a future that we are facing. It won't be long before Municipal Government in the U.S. will be touched by disaster capitalism, outsourcing police, fire, EMT's, utilities. An executive for Lockheed Martin has boasted on numerous occasions that what they've done on the  streets of Baghdad & Falluja they can do for the police in downtown America.  Another player in this game to privatize America is John Robb of Fast Company, who stated in a widely distributed manifesto ; "The end result of the War on Terror will be a new, more resilient approach to National Security. Built not around the State, but around private companies and citizens. Security will become based on where you live, who you work for..." he describes a system based not unlike our present health care system.

While huge sectors of our economy are failing, one is not, one is growing exponentially - the business of Security for Hire On a Global Scale- Companies will have private traveling security provided by companies like  Triple Canopy, Blackwater, etc. There are many companies in existence today poised to battle out which one can provide the best globe trotting hired guns for companies and multinationals.

Eisenhower's military industrial complex began shrinking drastically once the Cold War was declared over. I always thought of it more as a frozen dinner to be brought out to thaw when we needed a boost in the economy. Either way, the old-school Military Industrial Complex has suffered quite a few blows and was down for the count when a newer, stronger, more organized compatriot jumped into the ring to help support the aging ideology. That new contender is disaster capitalism.

Disaster capitalism has beauty in it's evil simplicity. Not only does it provide profit for munition and war machine manufacturers,  buying and selling weapons, actually fighting the wars (which because of their staus are not recognized as American Troops & don't have to abide by the military rules of engagement), they treat the wounded, recover the dead and then rebuild what it destroyed. It can be done over and over again. Just like your dad's Buick is a thing of the past never to be seen again, so to is his military industrial complex. Both outdated, not competitive in today's marketplace and quite frankly just not as damn glamours and sexy.

 I worry that the W.M.D.'s (weak minded delusions) of Bush and Cheney have so jaded our eyes, that we can no longer see truth. And while I had great hopes for Obama- I'm sick to death of hearing him talk- I want to see some action. Sure, we're bringing troops home-they say (they fail to mention that many more are coming home in body bags). Another fact that is not divulged is that we are just replacing U.S. forces with more mercenaries.

I live in the hills on a private wooded acre of land. I am a devout pacifist. But we and our neighbors moved to this remote location in order to avoid interaction with city folk, city restrictions, etc. I know that if the time ever came our neighbors would form a damn fine militia and I cannot conceive of a scenario where I would engage in fighting but I damn sure would would feed my neighbors, provide first aid and water. If that makes me a hypocrite so be it. It's mine to bear.

Perhaps the worst weapon of mass destruction is whatever they have used against us, the citizens, what has lulled us into such complacency? What has caused us to believe we'll never hear truth again? What has turned us into a nation of sheeple, addicted to consumerism, and believing ourselves not smart enough to understand the economy, the government, and democracy?

As Always- Peace

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Posted by Leslie Blanchard at 8/5/2009 1:45 PM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment

It's A Bing Thing

© Leslie Blanchard

Over the last 10-12 days I've started 3 articles. I get my premise nailed down, and then BAM, all these little parasitic thoughts leech onto the underlying theme, where they twist, contrast, and hijack my article. They spawn creating the need for their own separate voices, their own articles.

Now I can blame some of the noise in my head on Multiple Sclerosis-after all I am in a constant drug-induced state. Also, with M.S. you get sensory overload pretty easily (at least in my case). But I truly believe it is more than that. It's a Bing Thing.  First time I saw that commercial, man I felt like I hit the mother-lode. That is how my brain functions.

My partner of 14 years is used to it and she can usually figure out what I mean when my words get twisted i.e. twords get risted. She can understand that when I ask her to turn off the refrigerator- I mean the television. But as of late, she says I'm starting in the middle of the conversation, or that I didn't include her in the first part of the discussion. What happens is we'll be talking - maybe about the garden & how our tomatoes are doing. Then 10-15 minutes later,after the tomato discussion, I'll say something like "Yeah, Daddy used to whip them, the neighbors thought he was nuts, but they always wanted to get hold of ours." She'll think about for a few minutes and then say "Uh, I wasn't around for the start of this conversation, explain." In my head it makes perfect sense so I have to think on it a bit, usually I'll find the missing connection. In this case it was about the way my Dad grew tomatoes, he'd shake the plants, lightly whip them. Neighbors thought he was loony, but we always had the biggest, best tasting tomatoes on the street, and they'd always hope that we'd have too many and give them away.

So I've been kinda studying on this Bing thing a little. How my writing has been affected by it is simple really. I started a piece on The Bilderberg Group. I began to list a few of the many members, like David Rockerfeller, John Foster, Ben Bernanke, Harold Ford Jr., etc. Then I think about the link between Ford Jr. and how Ford Motors didn't need any bailout. Presto-Chango another topic- another story. Between the 3 articles I have started I probably have 17 articles waiting to be birthed. Then I get anxious. Then I go into hibernation. Then I write nothing. So when my good friend ddjango told me yesterday to "write something Dammit!" I figured I might as well write about why I can't write.

We had thunderstorms this morning, so I had time to think on all of this without the TV, radio, or Internet in the background. Now I see that it isn't just search overload. It's media overload. Last week we lost a lot of celebrities. Thursday morning Farrah Fawcett lost her long battle with cancer, by 5 p.m. she's not even mentioned anymore, because Michael Jackson died. But Farrah wasn't the only thing that fell off the radar. Suddenly no news coverage of Iran, or North Korea's missile ship, or the 2 wars we are illegally waging. In fact something happened yesterday that 90% of America should know, but don't, a military coop in Honduras. True there was some, sparse mentions of it on Twitter, a tiny little snippet on TV news, but that's about it. Another thing that happened was when Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Now several of us on Twitter got this out and going strong. But today so far, I've seen little mention of it.

My point, I do have one, is how convenient it is that they have trained us, drugged us with fluoride and aspartame to give us a shorter attention span than your typical 6 week old kitten. Especially at this point in history when decades old plans are about to come to fruition. Those of us who still hung on and investigated the news stories that we only saw once, big stories that just disappeared, well now they (they=them, NWO, politicians, world leaders all working together and at the same time at cross purposes) they have found another way to distract us. The Bing Thing. The increasing links of one thing to another, then another, then even more, easing us into forgetting what we were originally researching, thinking, reporting. Seems 6 degrees of separation is too close for comfort. We now must have 600 degrees of separation or some of us that are fed up with the status quo might just get too close to the truth.

I'm definitely not saying to abandon the Internet- it's really the only place to find truth in reporting, from citizen journalists. But we have to learn who is bankrolling the news we do get on line and add that to the equation before we totally buy one source's version of the truth. People like myself and many others on Twitter, many other bloggers- don't earn a dime. So at least we don't have the corruption of money shaping our slants. But, it's obvious that no one can be totally,truthfully non-biased on anything. We are the sum of our parts. I present items I believe to be true. I read opposite viewpoints. Then try to reach what is true for me. Please folks- do the same. Don't let them Bing thing you. As always, Peace.

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Posted by Leslie Blanchard at 6/30/2009 12:45 PM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment
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