More Bush Totalitarianisms

I received an email update from the Center for American Progress Fund that has some information we all need to know about. Please read it.

Obama

I tuned into Obama's South Carolina victory speech. He's good isn't he? If I hadn't done a bit of research, I might have been sucked into his promises. The reality is something different though. 'The Obama Illusion' is a must read. He is telling voters what they want to hear. He had me saying to myself, 'Maybe I misjudged him. Maybe he really does care about the American people.' Then I shook myself and reminded myself that Obama is on the Council of Foreign Relations. Here is a CNN report on CFR's plans to merge Mexico, the US and Canada. It's almost three years old and closer to the anticipated unification. A second CNN report is about a year and half old and states the plan is on track.

And we trust our election process:

BlackBoxVoting.org in New Hampshire

George Carlin says it like it is

George Carlin - Who Really Controls America

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Prevent more stripping of Civil Rights

If you want to protect further loss of your civil rights to go here. Do it today as there will be a vote in Congress on Monday!

Loss of Freedom

3.15 pm
As I gaze out the window in awe of the white powder that glistens in the rays of a sun that has been hidden by several days of clouds, wind and snow, I think of how pure and clean it looks in all its freshness. And then I realise that my innocence has vanished. The innocent view of the world I held before I began delving into the credibility of our primary candidates has been shattered as truths were revealed of which previously I had no knowledge.

Last night, as I lay under the warmth of the duvet and a multitude of blankets, reflecting on everything I have learned over the past few weeks, I felt scared. For the first time in my life, as an American citizen, on American soil, I felt scared. Scared that I will now have to live my life always looking over my shoulder, monitoring every word I say. Scared that I may not be able to find work when I need it, that I will end up on the streets or maybe even in a concentration camp for my political beliefs. Scared that my life will no longer count to the upper echelon. I thought, 'So this is what it might have felt like to be Jewish when their rights started being taken away by Hilter. So this is what it might have felt like to live in Soviet Russia or an Eastern Bloc country.'

And then I cried. I cried for the freedoms we no longer have and don't even realise that we no longer have them. I cried because I couldn't believe we're gradually being led into a system where only the elite will be treated as human beings. I cried for the loss of trust I had blindly placed in my elected officials, naively believing they have the best interests of our country at heart. My world has changed overnight. Every action has taken on greater meaning. I ask myself how much longer I will be able to act as a free person.

Our government is doing to us exactly what the British did to the Irish. They slowly took away their land, their jobs, their language, their rights. We are rapidly losing our jobs and our rights. Next it will be our homes. The government doesn't speak the same language we do even though it's called English.

8.50 pm
While looking up some information on Ed Schafer, nominated for Secretary of Agriculture (if anyone has any information about him I would appreciate it), I came across this quote by our 'illustrious' leader (he is answering a question posed to him about how people are making comparisons between Viet Nam and Iraq): 'Look, this is hard work. It's hard to advance freedom in a country that has been strangled by tyranny. And, yet, we must stay the course, because the end result is in our nation's interest.' (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040413-20.html). He ought to know about strangling a country by tyranny. I beg your pardon, whose interest? How is killing innocent people, Iraqis and Americans, in our nation's interest? What he really meant to say is that the end result is in his interest and the interest of the elite few.

At 9.05 pm I learned that Dennis Kucinich has dropped out of the presidential primaries. I am extremely saddened by this because I believe Mr. Kucinich truly cares about this country and ordinary citizens. Will we take a stand and write in a vote for him to show this country that we're tired of being told who we will vote for? Where is that American spirit that threw off the domination of England? Let's throw off the domination of the corporations and those in office who aren't true public servants, which means just about all of them. That reminds me, our elected officials are public servants. They are supposed to be acting in service to the public. That's me and you. When did we and they lose sight of this?

Primary Candidates and the 'Truth-o-Meter'

Here's an interesting page on the web site PolitiFact.com: it's called the Truth-O-Meter, and it evaluates statements made by the candidates as to how factual their statements are. It's sponsored by the St. Petersburg Times, a Florida newspaper. I haven't, at this writing, checked out the statements PolitiFact use to corroborate their evaluation, so if you find any errors in their information let me know.

Not so cheery news

I had intended to just ramble a bit, talk about how much it's snowing, getting ready to go back to school. I made the 'mistake' of checking the headlines on reddit and came across one that had a link to the Bill Moyers Journal. His guest for the 18th of January was David Cay Johnston, the writer of a book called Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense and Stick You with the Bill.

The information is not surprising. It's just that hearing it out loud made me feel very sad. Our government doesn't care about us. Our representatives don't care about us. Even though I have been accused of being cynical, I usually do look on the positive side of things. I usually give people the benefit of the doubt, ya know . . . innocent until proven guilty.

It is clear that the lower 98% of the population is expendable to our government.

Presidential Candidates - No Real Choice

I have been thinking a lot and reading a lot about the state of our country. Both Clinton and Obama are members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a 'non-partisan' organization that supports globalization and a world-wide central government. There is plenty of evidence on the internet, if one takes the time to dig around, that our fate is being decided by several elite groups, the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission and the CFR.

Clinton was most certainly in attendance at the 2006 annual Bilderberg meeting. Her hubby is a member of all three organizations. The only two candidates who have no affiliations with any of these groups are Paul and Kucinich.

If Obama hasn't been invited and wins the primary, he most certainly will be invited to attend a Bilderberg meeting. If he doesn't fall in line, I will be surprised. I would hope that he wouldn't, but as he is already a member of the CFR, I am doubtful.

I understand that Obama has been a ray of hope. I was hopeful too, until I learned of his CFR membership. Maybe I am jumping to conclusions. Maybe I have become too cynical. But he will have to prove that he really is looking out for the American people and really wants to get us out of globalization.

'The Planned Collapse of America'

The heading for this post comes from an article of the same name I just read on Online Journal. The article discusses a report released by The Center for the Study of Social Policy/SRI International at Standford University in 1974 called Changing Images of Man. The links in the article provide further information that would be unbelievable if I hadn't already heard bits of it from other sources.

Over the past few years, I have certainly been dissatisfied with the direction the US government has been taking this country; however, I have been apathetic and more concerned with my personal life than politics. I felt at least I had some control over my own life. I have been part of the crowd with my head stuck in the sand, thinking if I just ignore this, it will all go away.

Well, the sorry state of our affairs hasn't gone away. It's gotten worse. I have been shaken out of my apathy. Something has to be done. I don't know if it's too late. Just like with global warming. Are we too late? Has the ball already been set in motion and impossible to stop?

The only way to stop the corruption in our government, to stop the overspending, to stop the warmongering, to stop the monoculturism and egocentrism is for each individual to take ownership of his or her own part in the demise of our society. We have played the game. We have bought into the consumerism. We continue to accept the lesser of two evils for our candidates.

Did we confront Wal-Mart with their take-over strategy and boycott their stores? No, we were thrilled with low prices, not caring that our local economies were being undermined by Wal-Mart's tactics.

Did we refuse to buy goods manufactured in China? No, we bought more and more until there is virtually no other choice but to purchase an item that has been made in China.

Are we ready to make the sacrifices necessary to change the direction of the collapse of our economy? As I look around me, it doesn't appear so. We're not willing to sacrifice our SUVs or the overwhelming choices available in super stores. We're not willing to wear the clothes that may be a little outdated. We're not willing to keep the mobile phone that doesn't have the latest technology.

What about Internet? It has become a necessity in this world. And frankly, I wouldn't have gotten the wake up call with out it. I wouldn't be able to contact so many people to begin raising the alarm. I wouldn't be writing this blog. I wouldn't have found out that our constitution provides an opportunity for 'Do-It-Yourself Impeachment' (click here.)

Changing the direction of the path this country is on is going to take a major shift in how each of us looks at the world and our fellow human beings. We each need to take responsibility for our own actions. We each need to be aware of how much we have contributed to the problems our country and the entire world are now facing.

Every time I throw something in the garbage, every time I drive my car, every time I buy something at the store, I am affecting the world around me.

I have so far managed to maintain my stance of boycotting Wal-Mart. I have never shopped at Wal-Mart, and I hope I never have to. What if Wal-Mart were the only place I could get groceries? Would I be willing to starve to death in protest?

I used to be able to avoid buying anything from China. That time has passed. Now I ask myself if I really need the item before I buy it in order to avoid buying an item manufactured in China.

I would love to be able to buy my clothes from the few US clothing manufacturers available online, but their prices are way of my budget. I would love to be able to drive a hybrid car, again, not in my budget. It seems to me that being 'Green' is only for the upper classes. And until the majority of Americans make it a priority, it will remain a luxury to be 'Green'.

If the American people would, en masse, refuse to buy anything made in any other country but the US, then we would have to start manufacturing within our own borders once again.

If the American people would, en masse, refuse to buy SUVs, refuse to drive any more than is absolutely necessary, then the oil and auto industries would have to listen.

If the American people would, en masse, refuse to buy products with toxic ingredients, food sprayed with pesticides and grown with chemical fertilizers, food imported from other countries, and protest the government subsidies that pay farmers not to grow their crops, then government, manufactures, food processors and farmers would have to listen.

If the American people would, en masse, refuse to pay their taxes until the government brought our troops home from far and wide and quit spending money on space exploration and ridiculous research products, and instead applied those freed-up resources to providing a workable health care system and getting us out of debt, the government would have to listen. They couldn't put three million people in prison for tax evasion.

But, and here's where my cynicism rears its ugly head, we probably won't do that. We're not in enough pain yet. By the time enough people are in enough pain, it will be too late.

Today I wonder why I'm even writing this. I know it's not being read by very many people. I know our government doesn't care. I know the corporations don't care.

I keep reminding myself of the image of the pebble that is dropped in a pool of water and the ripples that flow outwards. Unfortunately, and here's my cynical mind again, if a pebble is dropped in the middle of the ocean, the ripples just get swallowed up and have no affect.

It's going to take a lot more than one pebble here and one pebble there dropping into the ocean to change the destructive course of this nation and its people.

We are the nation. And right now we're a bunch of sheep being led to the slaughter.

NH Recount & Global Warming

I picked up an interesting headline from reddit on the New Hampshire recount. Black Box Voting, an organization that attempts to make sure elections are above board, has concerns about ballot boxes arriving at the vault with slits in them and that the 'seals' on the boxes are definitely not tamper resistant. You can read the complete story here.

What shouldn't be surprising is that I found no mention of this in the NY Times or the Washington Post online. When I did a Google search on '"new hampshire" recount', there were no items that came up discussing this finding, other than alternative news sources. Several of items pointed out what a waste of time this recount is and serves no purpose. No purpose? Isn't the voters' trust in a system that determines the next president of the United States of paramount importance?

It struck me today how there are little or no letters to the editor in my local newspaper. I wonder if this is just a local trend or a larger trend.

Another interesting article I found (can't remember if it was on Digg or reddit) is that a Montana high school that cancels a speech to be given by a Nobel prize winner on global warming because the school board is concerned that the speech might have an adverse effect on the local agribusiness (full story).

These articles and others like them have me shaking my head and saying, 'I don't get it'. They'll soon have me committed for walking around and muttering to myself.

Of course if Senate Bill 1959 passes, they'll have me hauled off for speaking against the government. HR 1955 has already passed through the House with virtually no opposition. Once again there is no information about either bill in mainstream media. Check it out here, here, here, here, here and here.

ATT's Invsion of Privacy

Read all about it: AT&T is considering scanning internet activity. Contact AT&T to convey your outrage over their violation of our right to privacy.

Censorship

What people aren't getting about the MSNBC victory to exclude Dennis Kucinich is that the media is deciding who we vote for. What happened to the pride that journalists had in reporting the news, getting the scoop, letting the American people know what is REALLY going on? Granted, the profession of journalism has had its own difficulties. But as I mentioned in my first post, if you want to find out what's really going on, you have to dig around on the internet and check out alternative news sources.

We are living in our own version of 1984. We don't really decide anything for ourselves any longer. We are fed through the media. We need to stand up to the media and the corporations behind the media and tell them to get back to the business of reporting the news rather than creating the news.

Remember the word 'boycott'? It isn't heard much these days. It's time the American people boycott the major media companies and their backers until they clean up their acts and quit trying to tell us who to vote for, where to shop, where to take our vacations, what laws we'll support in spite of the fact that we never knew they were being passed, what scientific news is most important.

Okay, I know there's a lot of news out there. I know editors have to decide what goes in a newspaper. But if you're going to present one issue, then present the other side, or at least the information where readers can do their own follow up.

Wake up America!!! We're losing the battle against Big Brother!!! Write to MSNBC. You can do it from the comfort of your PC or laptop. I've even made it easy for you by including the link (click on MSNBC). Go to the bottom of the home page and click 'Contact'.

Opinions

What I don't understand is why people get all upset over other people's opinions. Isn't the first amendment all about freedom of speech? Isn't that one of basic rights that has been eroded in the aftermath of 9/11?

I have read some pretty amazing comments that people have made about other people's comments. I love a hearty discussion, don't get me wrong, but when the discussion deteriorates to name calling and people deciding they're 'right' and you're 'wrong', it's no longer a discussion and the participants are no longer respecting the other's right to a different opinion.

It is difficult to live with ambiguities. The reason we have dogmatists and fundamentalists is that we humans like to have clear cut guidelines for everything. People believe in heaven because it alleviates the fear of death. People believe in reincarnation because of a need to know the soul continues on. Some people are pro-life; some are pro-choice. Some people believe that rap isn't music; some sware that country isn't music. Some people believe in more government control, some in less.

I attempt to practice the wiccan guideline, 'An it harm none, do what ye will' or the Native American practice of considering the result of an action over the next seven generations.

I could just as easily get dogmatic over these concepts as others get about Christianity or Islam. I could decide that the pro-choice people are out of line because they are harming the unborn fetus. I could say the pro-life people are out of line because the life of the mother may be harmed if she proceeds with the pregnancy. A conundrum.

Perhaps the seven generations concept is the better overall guideline. I'll use an environmental example.

A floating bridge was constructed to connect the Olympic Peninsula to the Kitsap Peninsula in Western Washington. Up to that point in time, the Orca whale would travel down the Hood Canal feasting on seals as part of its diet. After the bridge construction, the Orcas no longer travelled down the Hood Canal. The seal population increased. Their droppings contaminated the oyster and clam beds. If the seven-generation guideline had been applied and the ecosystem of the area had been observed long enough to understand the natural balance, then it would have been clear a different method of connecting the two peninsulas would have been necessary in order to keep the Hood Canal ecosystem in balance.

The difficulty with the seven-generations approach is that decisions can't be made quickly. Maybe that's the point. Our world is constantly looking for instant this and instant that. And I'm included in that. Some days I wonder what I would do without the internet. I would probably be a lot better off!!

More on Real ID

Colorado's recent experience with Real ID gives some food for thought. See the article on Stateline.org.

REAL ID - OMG

REAL ID can also spell derail, as in one more derailment of our civil rights or railed as in railroaded down our throats. If I'm playing some of the letters in scrabble then I've got lied, liar, deal and lair, all of which are applicable. I could come up with more words, but I do have to get some of those other things done that I mentioned in yesterday's post. You get the picture.

What I want to know is how this got through congress, and I never heard about it. It's a full time job to go through all the bills that are in one stage or another in congress. I really could not believe some of the bills that have been drafted, discussed, redrafted, redicussed, voted on, ad nauseum that have so little relevance (check out GovTrack and you'll see what I mean). And that's where my taxes are going? To pay the salaries of a bunch of congress people who vote on bills to change the names of buildings?

Unanswered Questions

I've been reflecting, rather, attempting to reflect on how I've managed to have all this extra time since I'm on semester break and avoid accomplishing anything other than fill my brain with all the political goings on and sink further and further into a state a despair regarding the enormity and gravity of our country's situation.

I can really get lost in the internet digging for information. I'm working on a project for a friend of mine that has given me that opportunity. But that isn't consuming all my internet time.

I love to sing and I really want to improve my guitar and my piano skills. Why don't I take the time away from the internet to do those very things that feed my soul? I mean, is reading one more article about Bush and his shenanigans going to feed my soul? I don't think so.

I have several books I'm reading and several more I want to read before the semester starts. Another love of mine . . . reading. A lot of what I do on the internet is reading, but it's not the same as snuggling up under the covers with a good mystery! I have, thankfully, managed to keep my computer out of my bedroom. I don't have wireless, and I'm not going to go buy a longer cable. That keeps that from happening. So instead of turning the computer off at a decent hour and reading a good book, I manage to stay up late and slip in a few paragraphs just before nodding off.

I have tax information to gather up. All my paperwork is sitting in a box, staring at me day after day. I've managed to get through about half of it since Christmas time. It is imperative that I do this for one of two reasons. Firstly, I need to apply for my financial aid, and I have to have a reasonable estimate of my what my tax return is going to look like, or not look like. Secondly, I will not have time to take care of this after school starts again on the 28th of this month.

I have a couple of projects around the house that need my attention. They REALLY do need to get done.

I comfort myself with the fact that this is the first time since I graduated from high school that I've had this much time on my hands, and that I deserve to 'goof off'.

So why am I avoiding all these things? Jungian psychology says asking the questions are more important than finding the answers. I could probably turn that around to work in favour of my proscratinatory behaviour of late.

There's someone in my psyche that loves the thrill of getting 'it' in under the wire. And that someone is winning right now. Somehow I have to wake up those other elements of my psyche that want to have a more sane and ordered life.

Oops, I just burnt my dinner....

Can't Sleep

I just get those times when I can't sleep. I wrote in my 'real' journal, things you will never read on these pages. That didn't seem to help, so I turned on the computer. Fatal mistake. I check out the Irish Times. What do I see? A photo of our beloved President amidst a sea of Greek Orthodox clergymen. Surreal. Doo-doo-doo-doo Doo-doo-doo-doo. Á la Twilight Zone.

Perhaps this blog was bad idea. Why don't I play the piano or the guitar instead? Why don't I write a new song?

I think I'll try to sleep again.

Why Hillary and Not Clinton?

I know, like I don't have more important issues to ponder or tasks that need my attention. This has been rolling around in my head for a while now, so maybe if I write it down I can let it go. If I asked someone why, I'd probably get the answer that we call her Hillary to differentiate her from former President Bill Clinton. But that isn't totally plausible since we call our current president 'Bush' most of the time. Yes, he can be referred to as George W., but he's usually not.

So why aren't we referring to Hillary Clinton as just Clinton? I think there's something there.

I haven't decided who's getting my vote on Super Tuesday, so what I'm saying here has nothing to do with supporting or not supporting Clinton. I feel like referring to her on a first name basis when we're not referring to the other candidates as Barack, John E. and John M., Mitt, Mike, etc. says something. Like somehow she isn't on the same level as the other candidates, maybe not respected as much because, dare I say it, she's a woman. Maybe it's because her first name has a musical ring to it, and it rolls off the tongue more easily than 'Clinton'.

Whatever the reason, I will refer to her by her surname as I do all the other candidates.

Do you blog?

So here I am writing my first 'real' blog. Oh yeah, I blogged on my MySpace site, but that's not quite the same, is it?

When my father knew more about blogging than I did, I figured it was about time I got myself upgraded.

I'm not guaranteeing anything about this blog. What I have to say will probably be boring to most people. Your life is just as busy as mine, so why would you read through what may be a bunch of meaningless drivel?

You may think I'm a stupid idiot for my opinions. You may think I'm wasting my time. And well I may be. I probably don't need one more distraction!!

This certainly won't take the place of my handwritten journal where only my most private thoughts are written and my most stupid mistakes recorded in great sordid detail.

The big thing I want to write about in this first post is the farce occurring on the political front. The last time I felt a minuscule inkling of hope was when Al Gore ran against Bush. I'm extremely discouraged about this election. I was hoping Kucinich would have more of a showing, just to send a message to our government if nothing else. If Clinton wins the democratic nomination, we'll almost certainly end up with another Republican in the White House. In fact, I think the Republicans want her to win the nomination because she'll be easier to defeat than Obama. Wouldn't surprise me if they'll fix the primary elections to make sure she wins. If Obama manages to win . . . I don't know. One of his major weaknesses is his inexperience.

What I don't understand is if Americans are so unhappy about the status quo why are we voting for candidates who will maintain the status quo? Clinton, my home state senator, can't take a stand on anything and stick with it. She'll probably continue to maintain troops in the Middle East and continue to support Big Bro... oh I mean, Big Business.

And then there's the lovely media, owned and operated by Big Business who has issued a gag order on any candidate who isn't one of the big three of either camp. Anyone who wants to find out the truth about issues and candidates has to go digging on the internet to find the information that never makes it into mainstream media. It's not that hard to do, but it takes people away from Monday night football and their almost daily forays into Wal-Mart.

On the lighter side, I finished the prepenultimate semester of my bachelor's degree with 3.52, giving me a 3.62 overall. I still have two difficult classes this upcoming semester that may cause a further drop in my GPA, but for my last year, I won't have those two nasties and should be able to get it back up there before I graduate. I've made progress in my efforts to be less perfectionistic. I know you don't believe that, but I actually didn't even do a homework assignment and I turned in at least one that was incomplete. It was in a class where I already had an A. It was more important to concentrate on the classes that were in serious trouble. I know that's hard for you to believe, if you know me personally, that I was in serious trouble, but there you have it. We all need something we're not good at to keep us humble!!

My dad was out for a visit at Christmas. We hadn't spent Christmas together since my monumental move to Western New York. And I hadn't seen him since summer of 2006. Christmas Eve was spent with my Polish neighbours. What a feast. And then I went to midnight mass where at least half of the songs were in Polish. It's kind of hard to fake Polish, but I think I did pretty good. No one told me to stop singing. In fact my neighbour said I sang in Polish better than she did. And she's a fluent speaker.

My re-entry into the US from Northern Ireland this past summer was difficult. A combination of factors made staying in NI to finish my degree an impossibility. However, once I got back into school and back into music therapy (it's a graduate degree in the UK/Ireland - I studied composition there, which was AB FAB!), it made the transition so much easier. Plus my experience of really being the weirdo (American and old, not just old) at Queen's University, Belfast (QUB) made my presence at SUNY a non-event. My experience of being an American overseas has certainly changed over the years. Many times I didn't even want to say anything because I didn't want anyone to know I was American. Pretty sad commentary on how things have changed.

During my absence, the state of NY made a master's degree mandatory in order to practice music therapy. Fortunately a master's program should be up and running at my current university by the time I've finished my internship. And that's another story. I need to start narrowing down where I'm going to do my internship, which is a 6-9 month program depending on the internship site.

For what it's worth, there's my first post!
15.20 EST