December
31, 2005
Financial
Armageddon
I know it's
almost New Year's Day, but this year isn't going to be the jolly time
being portrayed by the Bush Administration or any of the incumbents running
for reelection at any level. If you haven't read about the coming baby
boomer bomb, I respectfully urge you to do so:
http://usagoldvault.com/pdf/debt_lochead.pdf
Here is a
small sample of what Congress and the media won't tell you:
International
Forecaster [the best]
Train
Wreck of the Week
By Bob Chapman
December
18 2005
"George
and the neocons believe our Constitution is little more than a piece
of toilet paper, as they plunge toward total fascist government in America.
Our Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, has said the Constitution is
an outdated document. Once this cabal gets their extensions on the Patriot
Acts, well be presented with Patriot Act III to further suppress our
freedoms. Our Constitution is a living document that our president swears
to uphold and defend you wouldn't think so. The Constitution
and the Bill of Rights protect us from our President and Congress. We
do not need Patriot Acts to protect us from anything, much less phony
terrorism. George and the neocons are undermining our freedom and they
must be stopped.
"Most
Americans carry cell phones, but most are unaware that government agencies
can track their movements through signals emanating from the handset.
In the last four months, three federal judges have denied prosecutors
the right to get cellphone tracking information from wireless companies
without first showing probable cause to believe that a crime has been
committed. This is the same standard applied to requests for search
warrants. Companies that manufacture these devices are marketing services
that turn phones into even more precise global positioning devices for
driving or allowing parents to track the where abouts of their children
through the handsets. Permitting surreptitious conversion of a cellphone
into a tracking device without probable cause is in violation of the
Fourth Amendment, especially when a phone is monitored in the home or
other place where privacy is expected. Prosecutors have unsuccessfully
argued that expanded police powers under the USA Patriot Act allow them
a standard lower than probable cause. The pursuance of the ability of
government to track people by cellphone and to intercept conversations
on the cellphone is in violation of our rights, but government will
continue to seek the power to execute these actions whether we like
it or not.
"They
do not represent us they represent their own interests.
"Hillary
Clinton is moving to the right for political purposes of course.
She signed on as a co-sponsor of the Flag Protection Act, which makes
it illegal to desecrate the American Flag. This way she can have it
both ways. She gets to be pro-flag and anti-constitutional ban at the
same time. Moderate Democrats can embrace this as a lesser of two evils.
"Our
citizens have a savings rate of minus 1.5%. Less than 20% of US workers
have a pension plan and Social Security replaces less than 40% of pre-retirement
income. Savings are more important than ever for Americans, yet their
savings are at record lows. Thirty-seven percent of households do not
own a retirement savings account of any kind. For those who had accounts
the median value was $27,000. For workers between 55-64, it was $55,000
in 2001. Only 11% have savings in excess of $250,000. Perhaps now that
property prices are falling, Americans will start saving or at least
get out of their credit card debt.
"Last
quarter household, government and non-financial corporate debt expanded
9.1%, up from 8.1% in the second quarter, and at a y-t-d rate of 8.3%.
The last time debt accumulation was this high was in 1986, at 11.9%.
2005 debt growth is running ahead of 2004s 8.7%, which was the
strongest percentage debt expansion since 1988. Household mortgage debt
grew 14% in the quarter, the highest expansion since 1988. Government
debt overall increased 12.6%, the highest since 1985. Federal government
borrowings expanded 5.1%. This is a credit bubble. Net annual credit
growth from 2002s third quarter to 2005s was almost double,
up 86%.
Gold is the
antithesis of Wall Street, banking and government, and that is why they
so desperately worked to suppress golds price.
"The
protracted program to sell gold and to have producers such as Barrick
hedge to sell future production earlier began in earnest in 1993. They
were somewhat successful for 12 years. Its effect was enhanced in recent
years by leasing gold. This gold, although sold into the market to suppress
prices, still was held on the banks books as still being in the
vaults, when in fact, it wasn't. Now some of these central bank lenders
want their gold back and that is part of the reason gold is on its present
tare. Bankers and Wall Street know gold is an early warning system of
trouble ahead, so they attempted to suppress the price to lull the unwary
into a false sense of comfort and security. In reality it was a lie,
by a bunch of crooks that lie about most everything. Millions of citizens
have been cheated because of their duplicity. Now most all of their
gold has been leased or sold and their disabling of our early warning
system is close to an end.
"We
have been denigrated for 46 years for having advocated the truth and
sound money. Yes, there is a conspiracy and there are elitists who attempt
to run our world and these are the same people who have deliberately
put us into the fix we are in today. It didn't happen by coincidence,
because coincidence doesn't exist. We are going to now reap the financial
whirlwind, so you had better have gold and silver assets or your financial
future will not exist.
"Whirlpool
is laying off 730 workers and shipping their jobs to Mexico, where workers
make $2.00 an hour.
"The
rising cost of home building materials is putting pressure on builders
to choose between earnings, lower profits and charging less for new
homes. Unless forced to we donut see builders cutting prices, which
means less home will be sold. You can soon expect a drop in interest
only and adjustable rate mortgages. Nationwide they have been running
at about 33% of the mortgage market. That is about to change very soon.
As interest rates rise 30-year fixed rate mortgages will get more and
more of the originations. Homeowners who took out ARMS in the last few
years are just now seeing their payments start to rise, as interest
rates go up and their loans fixed-rate period end. Many refinanced at
3.9%, now the offering is 6.9% just two years later. As refinancing
comes due many will slide eventually into bankruptcy."
I highly
recommend this site for real analysis on the dead economy:
http://www.urbansurvival.com
"Gold
doesn't lie, but politicians do. Are you young enough to start all over
financially? Don't expect some congress critter to come to the rescue.
Get the facts.
December
31, 2005
You
will see this more frequently as Americans stand up for their rights
Letter
to the editor: Dillon a police state
December 22, 2005
To The
Editor,
"This
is in reference to the letter in last weeks paper about the Bill
of Rights Day (an article Richard Celata wrote) and the lady arrested
for not showing he ID. Well, Dillon is already becoming a police
state.
"This
past Labor Day weekend my three sons, two of my sons friends on leave
with him (all Special Operations Airborne Rangers who just came back
from their most recent deployment from Iraq encountering situations
not seen on TV), and others where arrested.
"There
was a peaceful crowd of 20-30 people (even the police reports agree
with this) walking from the Melten across the railroad tracks to the
parking lot across from Wells Fargo Bank. On that night the roads in
town where blocked off from traffic so hundreds of people where walking
in the streets.
"The
police drove by and told the crowd to get on the sidewalk (no sidewalks
on the RR tracks). They (police) got out and started asking for IDs.
My son-in-law (a Marine with two tours in Iraq) was the first on to
get out his and he did state that this is ----- harassment.
He was then handcuffed and arrested.
"My
son has his ID out but was asking why his brother was being arrested
and was thrown against the cop car, he wouldn't let them handcuff him
(resisting arrest) by keeping his hands on the car so he wouldn't get
thrown face down on the ground by four cops. He then got pepper sprayed
twice and taken down by the four cops and put in the car (where he did
become agitated). He then watched his girlfriend being pepper sprayed,
his sister being taken down by her throat (she's 55 and
the cop well over 6 feet) because she looked into the cop car and told
her husband and brother that well get them out of this, his first two
Ranger friends being taken to the ground by multiple cops because the
whole crowd was yelling, and then his younger brother taken down by
four cops because he was yelling/asking (from 12 feet away) why his
brothers were being arrested-there were a lot of abrasions to clean
out when they all got back home.
"There
were others in the crowd also being arrested/subdued. My son later told
me that he felt like he was in another war-like fire fight watching
his buddies and family being taken down and there was nothing he could
do about it. The cops at the police station told me that he had become
wild in the cop car for no apparent reason.
"At
the police station I asked on of the cops why they were all arrested
and was told disorderly Conduct. I re-asked why they where
stopped in the first place and was told that they (they cops) can stop
anyone and ask for ID even though nothing specific was going on within
the crowd. So I asked what Disorderly Conduct was and was told that
the first guy swore, so that allowed them to arrest him and then the
others in the crowd became loud and there was swearing, Swearing
in Dillon on Labor Day-ever happen before?
"When
all those guys were yelling and asking why they and others were being
arrested they weren't told why. Moreover, none of them had their rights
read to them. Again, this was a peaceful crowd until the cops arrived.
"The
three Rangers are due back to be deployed again (third tour) in a few
weeks. We aren't allowed to know where or even what country much less
have any contact. But, now they have to worry about this whole stupid
situation and their records (all of them had clean records) while they
will again be under fire.
"My
kids were raised around cops and had a healthy respect for Law Enforcement
(their dad is a former LAPD Watts cop, plus a few small towns). Moreover,
the son who resisted has had 20 years of training and international
competition in martial arts besides his extensive military Special Operations
Ranger training. If, he really wanted to resist arrest he could have
done more than just refusing to take his hands off the car.
"It
shouldn't matter what your political views are, in the United States
we have certain rights and protections. Most of us have had relatives
fight in some war to ensure this."
Brenda
Bricker
Dillon
Montana
George Bush's
agenda is one world government. He is erecting a police state in this
country to rival Joseph Stalin. He trashes the constitution and Bill of
Rights with ease. Those in denial need to wake up. Do the research:
https://devvy.com
The letter
above is EXACTLY why I did my recent column on law enforcement:
https://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd147.htm
* * * * *
I do not
agree with Wayne Madsen on many things, but his research is impeccable.
When a person does research or studies an issue or history, you read all
points of view - even ones you don't agree with or might find repugnant.
A researcher reads books, working papers, reports, essays, publications,
legislation, treaties, and pamphlets that cover many positions, opinions
and claims.
If a person
only reads one side of an issue or one party's position, you only get
one view. I, for one, think this is unacceptable and dangerous. Too many
Americans simply knee jerk when they read something about their favorite
politician or their party that they don't like. I know research takes
time, but it's the only way a person can verify information and make an
informed decision.
Bush's
Alienating US-Loyal Intel Will Be His Undoing
By Wayne
Madsen
December 24, 2005
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
"He
who lies most, lies worst. President Bush is contending that a government
leak about Osama Bin Laden using his satellite phone in 1998 resulted
in the Al Qaeda leader avoiding the phone or "going dark,"
to use an National Security Agency (NSA) term. That, Bush maintains,
resulted in an intelligence failure. Once again, Bush is just plain
lying (along with being misinformed).
"It
was no secret that Bin Laden stopped using his satellite phone in 1996
after Chechen President Dzhokar Dudayev was killed by a Russian air-to-ground
missile as he was talking on his satellite phone. In that case, Dudayev
erred by keeping his conversation longer than two minutes, ample time
for a joint Russian-US operation to pinpoint his location using an overhead
U.S. communications intelligence satellite. The editor reported and
spoke in detail on that operation in 1996 ("DID NSA HELP RUSSIA
TARGET DUDAYEV?" by Wayne Madsen, Covert Action Quarterly, Summer
1997. Strong evidence suggests that the US, in violation of its ban
on assassination, used the world's most sophisticated satellite technology
to help Russia target the Chechen leader, and boost both Yeltsin's and
Clinton's election chances.) and was once berated by a senior Pentagon
officer for referring to the public news reports concerning it in an
address to a seminar in Tyson's Corner, Virginia.
"Also,
from Wayne Madsen, "Report Alleges US Role in Angola Arms-for-Oil
Scandal," CorpWatch, May 17, 2002: "Jardo Muekalia, who headed
UNITA's Washington office until it was forced to close in 1997, says
that that the military forces that ultimately succeeded in assassinating
[Jonas] Savimbi were supported by commercial satellite imagery and other
intelligence support provided by Houston-based Brown & Root, Cheney's
old outfit. Both the State Department and Pentagon vehemently deny any
US government role in the killing of Savimbi. But the US frequently
uses such intelligence wizardry to help track down troublesome leaders.
In 1996, according to US and British intelligence sources, the NSA may
have passed on location data to the Russians on the location of Chechen
President Dzhokar Dudayev (he was struck by an air-to-surface missile
while talking on his satellite phone).
"In
1999, the New York Times reported that Turkey captured Kurdish Workers'
Party leader Abdallah Ocalan after his cell phone location data was
tracked by U.S., British, and Israeli intelligence agents." From
Network World, "The Terrorist Network," by Sharon Gaudin,
Nov. 26, 01: "Chechen leader Dzokhar Dudayev knew he needed to
limit the time he spent using the satellite phone given to him by his
Islamic allies in Turkey. It was the spring of 1996, and the survivor
of two Russian assassination attempts was wary of Russia's ability to
home in on his communication signal - and his location. But on the evening
of April 21, Dudayev, baited by Russian President Boris Yeltsin's offer
of peace talks, called an adviser in Moscow to discuss the impending
negotiations. This time, Dudayev stayed on the phone too long.
"American
spy satellites, trained on Iraq and Kuwait, were quickly turned north
to the Caucasus mountains and Chechnya, according to a former communications
specialist with the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). The satellites
pinpointed the Chechen leader's location to within meters of his satellite
phone signal, and the coordinates were sent to a Russian Sukhoi Su-25
fighter jet. Dudayev was killed by two laser-guided air-to-surface missiles
while still holding the phone that gave him away. This deadly lesson,
which the U.S. has never officially confirmed, was not lost on Osama
bin Laden, a purported Chechen ally who fed money and weapons to their
fight against the Russians. That lesson was complete when bin Laden
subsequently received word that U.S. spy satellites, perhaps the very
same that located Dudayev, had eavesdropped on his own satellite phone
conversations. And members of the NSA played the tapes for visitors.
"'Bin
Laden knows what has happened and he's a smart man,' says Wayne Madsen,
a security consultant and former communications specialist with the
U.S. Navy and the NSA. 'He's learned his lesson... and he knows technology
is a double-edged sword so he's using it carefully.' Today bin Laden
is believed to school his soldiers in high-tech tools of communication.
E-mail, online dead drops, satellite phones, cell phones, encryption
and digital camouflage called stenography (see story, next page) are
all tools of Al Qaeda, bin Laden's terrorist network.
"Those
high-tech tools enable members of Al Qaeda to communicate with terrorist
cells (or groups) hidden around the world. But bin Laden himself uses
none of it. Instead, he has fallen back on ancient methods of communication,
denying the U.S. and its allies the chance to track electronic footprints,
satellite signals or even the radiation emissions from cellular phones.
A grid of trusted human couriers, foot soldiers melding in with civilians,
crisscross Afghanistan and flow into neighboring countries carrying
written and whispered messages that are then electronically shot around
the world." Bush is actually trying to stop the flood of leaks
from NSA and other intelligence agencies by disgruntled analysts and
other professionals by making noise about "leaks." It's a
desperate move on Bush's part. It was Bush who alienated the US Intelligence
Community and now Bush will pay the political price for his arrogance
and demoralization of the "INT" agencies: Sigint, Humint,
Imint, and Elint. Bin Laden ceased using his sat phone in 1996 after
Dudayev's sat phone frequency and location was homed in on by a Russian
missile."
December
30, 2005
Blind
Loyalty
My new
column today on WND about holding Bush accountable for his actions
brought the usual mail from conservatives accusing me of all sorts of
nasty things:
From: Ed
E[xxx]
To: [email protected]
Sent: 12/30/2005 1:43:21 PM
Subject: Holding Bush responsible.
"You
may not belong to any political party, but you are certainly a flaming
liberal. The very absence of the man's title, PRESIDENT, is sufficient
evidence of the vitriol that lies behind the pseudo and massaged 'history'
you speak of."
Yep, I sure
am a flaming liberal. I am a Catholic who hates abortion. I have been
writing about the dangers of the toxic sodomite deathstyle for a decade.
I walked from the Republican party in '96 after listening to their BS
and figuring out it was the same as the communists (Democratic Party),
they just packaged and sell the same lies under different rhetroic. I
finally woke up to the fact that the GOP no longer serves this republic,
but the same money masters the democrats grovel to and worship.
I don't call
Bush president because I didn't vote for him; I voted for Michael Peroutka
of the Constitution Party. I have no respect for George Bush as he continues
to trash the Constitiution and Bill of Rights. One of our past presidents
had some words for this e-mailer:
"The
President is merely the most important among a large number of public
servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which
is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency
in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as
a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full
liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is
exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when
he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base
and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only
unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American
public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one
else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant,
about him than about any one else." ~ Teddy Roosevelt, Kansas
City Star, 149 May 7, 1918
Another favorite
today:
From:[xxxx]
To: [email protected]
Sent: 12/30/2005 3:18:37 PM
Subject: prez bush and accountability
"yo
piece is about as idiotic as the junior sen. from the great state of
mass. when he stated "l voted for it before l voted against it.
best." david brown ft. lauderdale
Notice Mr.
Brown doesn't dispute a single fact in my column. Not one of the historical
quotes, nothing. Just typical name calling from those who willfully believe
lies from their favorite politician because they're in denial. They have
done zero research, but they will believe what Bush or Rush tell them
without any verification.
The voices
of America's destruction.
Then, we
have those folks who send out this type of mail:
----- Original
Message -----
From: Peter Jean-Pierre
To: [email protected]
Sent: 12/9/2005 10:03:28 AM
Subject:
Devvy,
"Where
is a service that can tell me how many forms I have to fill out to legally
stop withholding from check?"
I receive
an average of 15,000 e-mails per month and cannot answer them individually.
I simply don't have the luxury of hiring a huge staff to help me. I do
use an auto responder to let people know this and that I can't respond
individually to hundreds of individual requests every day of the week,
seven days a week, 352 days a year. And, what was Mr. Jean-Pierre's response
to that?
"No
you didn't f**king help me at all. I'm not knocking your mission at
all, I give you props for what you are doing. Be real with you, I think
you don't want to f**king tell me."
Infantilism.
December
20, 2005
Billionaire
Warns of 'Economic Tsunami'
Newsmax
| December
20 2005
One of Americas
richest billionaires, Richard Rainwater, warns in a major Fortune magazine
piece that an "economic tsunami is about to strike the global
economy.
Rainwater
believes the main worry for the U.S. economy is that the world is running
out of oil.
Rainwater
is so worried about dwindling oil supplies in the near future that he
now has some $500 million of his $2.5 billion fortune in cash and
he advises that the time is coming to invest in oil and gas companies
to take advantage of the looming crisis.
See how
they spin
It's a no
brainer that Bill O'Reilly, FOX's cash cow and constitutionally challenged
talk show host does not like Judge Andrew Napolitano. Each time O has
Napolitano on his show, he treats him like some wayward child, showing
resigned tolerance to having him on the air. On December 18, 2005, O had
Napolitano on regarding Bush's eavesdropping and spying on Americans.
Predictably, O did his level best to spin illegal into what must be done
BILL O'REILLY
[FOX NEWS]: Joining us now from Washington, Dave Rivkin, former White
House counsel, Presidents Reagan and Bush the elder. And here in the studio,
Fox News senior legal analyst Andrew Napolitano. So you want to send Bush
to jail, right?
JUDGE ANDREW
NAPOLITANO [FOX NEWS SENIOR JUDICIAL ANALYST]: No, I don't want to send
him to jail. We haven't seen the so-called secret legal memo on which
he relied. But we know the following. Yesterday he admitted to breaking
the law--
O'REILLY:
No he didn't--
NAPOLITANO:
--because authorizing wiretaps without search warrants is against the
criminal law.
O'REILLY:
He said--but hold it. He said, you just heard him say, within the constitution,
within the law.
NAPOLITANO:
He's wrong. It's not within the constitution, and it's not within the
law.
O'REILLY:
He may be wrong, but he did not admit to breaking the law. Let's be precise.
NAPOLITANO:
Not per se. He admitted to doing the acts which resulted in authorizing
search warrants--excuse me, authorizing wiretaps without search warrants,
which is prohibited by the 1952 law that creates the NSA, and is prohibited
by at least three statutes written by the Congress since then.
O'REILLY:
All right.
NAPOLITANO:
The President doesn't write the laws. He has to execute them, whether
he agrees with them or not.
O'REILLY:
His people, his people, and I don't know, I have to tell the audience
I mean don't know. I mean, Napolitano is much smarter than I am. But his
people say the War Powers Act gives him the legal authority to do it.
And, it's because it's an international taping situation, not domestic.
These calls were going all overseas. And the third thing is the national
security, which as you know Congress gave him the authority, broad authorities,
to fight the war on terror. So he signed an executive order it seems like.
And he didn't actually say to the NSA tap this one, that one, and the
other one. They just did it, OK, under the authority that he gave them.
NAPOLITANO:
He does not have the authority to relieve them of the obligation to obey
the criminal laws. NAPOLITANO: When Richard Nixon argued that he could
spy on Americans because they were a threat to national security, the
Supreme Court rejected it nine to nothing. And said the fourth amendment
applies.
O'REILLY:
It was a different situation.
RIVKIN: Absolutely
true.
NAPOLITANO:
Of course it was a different situation. But you can't call someone a terrorist,
and thereby authorize people to go above the criminal law just because
of what you call them.
O'REILLY:
All right, but it's important at this juncture to point out that this
wasn't some cherry-picking operation. That the NSA wasn't spying en masse
on Americans calling overseas. These were targeted people, suspected,
suspected of having--
NAPOLITANO:
Americans who have the fourth amendment protection that the President
is abrogating. And he can't do that.
O'REILLY:
In the War Powers Act, though, he can abrogate it
NAPOLITANO:
No, the War Powers Act does not allow him to abrogate the fourth amendment.
And when he's the Commander--
O'REILLY:
Sure it did. Lincoln did it in the Civil War, you know that.
NAPOLITANO:
Lincoln did it in the Civil War, and the Supreme Court condemned it nine
to nothing after Lincoln was dead. The case is In Re
Milligan.
O'REILLY:
All right, OK. We're not going to settle it tonight. But I think it's
so complicated that nothing will come of it. Just my prediction. Nothing
will come of this.
RIVKIN: But
let me just say this--
O'REILLY:
Real quick.
RIVKIN: --what's
sad is that everybody is jumping to the worst possible interpretation.
O'REILLY:
Of course, but that's what everybody does Mr Rivkin. Come on.
NAPOLITANO:
Hey, he's the President, he's not a king. He's got to obey the laws like
the rest of us.
The King
of Bore, Charles Krauthammer, notorious liar, Condi Rice and Rummy Rumsfeld
have all defended Bush's spying on Americans since the story broke. Krauthammer
actually had the gall to emit such bombastic gas - and I'm paraphrasing
here - we all know the average American out there could care less about
a few phone calls being tapped. Yes, he actually believes that you and
I, the common man, don't care about a sitting president violating federal
law because, after all, he's a president during war time and he's saving
lives!
"They
that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." ~ Benjamin Franklin
Clank those
chains, Charles.
December
19, 2005
The hot topic
today remains Bush's admission of spying on Americans and his speech last
night. However, there's plenty of time for comment on that, but our soldiers
need our help now:
It's not
too late to give
Regardless
of how you feel about the war in Iraq, our dear freedom fighters are deployed
not just in Iraq, but around the globe. Christmas time is especially difficult
for them. I know because I am married to a retired U.S. Army Colonel and
the loneliness from being so far away from family this time of the year
is very difficult. Joe Scarborough and the USO have teamed up to provide
Operation Phone Home. Our military desperately need these phone cards
and I know every soldier will be very grateful if you can help. Our family
pooled together and made one family donation for our military family so
they can phone home on Christmas. If you are interested, please click
here and God bless you.
I have
seen the wounded
A little
over two years ago, I visited my dear friend, Brigadier General Ben Partin,
U.S.A.F (Ret) at Walter Reed. Ben had serious surgery; his recovery has
been successful. This is a huge complex and it took a lot of walking to
get to Ben's room. Along the way I saw hundreds of wounded soldiers back
from Iraq, mostly young. Some had no limb(s), some just laying in their
hospital bed in an empty room. It was all I could do not to bawl my brains
out on the way to find Ben's room.
My husband
is a retired Army Colonel who came home from war in one piece, although
he lost most of the hearing in one ear and has had back problems for 30
years. However, we have not forgotten the sacrifices made by our military
and Coast Guard. Last year I sent a DVD to Walter Reed for soldiers in
recovery. Time drags by so slowly when you're in pain and all alone. Walter
Reed is a wonderful hospital, but not all the wounded have familiy that
can afford to travel to the East Coast to visit.
I have received
an appeal and I hope you can find time in your busy schedule to send a
get well. I'm sending mine today:
A Special
Request: I have a special request. I'm sure many of you are currently
writing cards to friends and family. If you can, please send an extra
one (or 10, or 20) to our American military heroes who are recuperating
from wounds this Christmas Season. Please enclose a short note thanking
them for their service and personal sacrifice. They are the protectors
of our freedom, we must let them know. Your small act of kindness will
be greatly appreciated. Here's the address:
A
Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001
If you would,
please forward this message to your email friends.
The second
is from John; and, although Marks' message is a little long, I think it
is worth reading (as well as
reflecting back upon memories of Christmases of yore).
THE
SANDS OF CHRISTMAS
by
Michael Marks
I
had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh,
And looked across the table where the bills were piled too high.
The
laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix,
My stocks were down another point, the Chargers lost by six.
And
so with only minutes till my son got home from school
I gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool.
The
burdens that I carried were about all I could take,
And so I flipped the TV on to catch a little break.
I
came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust,
No snowflakes hung upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust.
And
where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh,
Eight Humvees ran a column right behind an M1A.
A
group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his teens
Their eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean.
They
walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight,
Their dearest wish for Christmas, just to have a silent night.
Other
soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind,
To share a scrap of mail and dreams of going home again.
There
wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease,
They had no Christmas turkey, just a pack of MREs.
They
didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see,
They didn't need an ornament--they lacked a Christmas tree.
They
didn't have a present even though it was tradition,
The only boxes I could see were labeled "ammunition."
I
felt a little tug and found my son now by my side,
He asked me what it was I feared, and why it was I cried.
I
swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near
And kissed him on the forehead as I whispered in his ear.
"There's
nothing wrong, my little son, for safe we sleep tonight
Our heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right,
To
worry on the things in life that mean nothing at all,
Instead of wondering if we will be the next to fall."
He
looked at me as children do and said, "It's always right,
To thank the ones who help us and perhaps that we should write."
And
so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note,
To thank the many far from home and this is what we wrote:
"God
bless you all and keep you safe and speed your way back home.
Remember that we love you so, and that you're not alone.
The
gift you give you share with all, a present every day,
You give the gift of liberty and that we can't repay."
Michael Marks: "I freely submit this poem for reprint
without reservation -- this is an open and grateful tribute to
the men and women who serve every day to keep our nation safe."
December
17, 2005
Nice
work if you can get it
The lawbreakers in Congress are reportedly "working feverishly" over the
weekend to wrap up a budget cutting session before they go on a six-week
extended vacation. Add up the other "breaks" Congress takes during the
year and these scoundrels are "in session" maybe 200 days a year. Let's
not forget that they all spend a substantial amount of time fund raising
during "working hours." Let's not forget that these incompetent sell outs
voted themselves a raise when no one was looking on November 18,
2005: $3,100. Roughly THREE MONTHS of paid vacation, plus a raise when
the U.S. Treasury has no money in it, only a debt of $8.2+ TRILLION dollars.
Nice work if you can get it.
Why is anyone surprised?
The hot story over the past 48 hours has been the exposure of Bush stomping
on the Constitution (again) by authorizing a secret eavesdropping program
in the United States more than three dozen times since October 2001, without
any judicial oversight, i.e. court ordered warrants. Why should anyone
be surprised? Millions of us have been trying to warn a nation walking
around in their self imposed comas that the intentions of the Bush administration
are not in the best interests of this republic. Yes, yes, I know, Kerry
would have been just as bad, but for now, let's stick to Bush.
After 9/11, the vice grip of totalitarianism went into hyper drive. "Our
way of life has forever changed," wrote Sen. John Warner, R-Va., in a
letter last month to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "Should this law
now be changed to enable our active-duty military to more fully join other
domestic assets in this war against terrorism?" Speaking of Posse Comitatus,
November 24, 2001 Planting the seed to get Americans to willingly and
stupidly give up their God-given rights for the illusion of security.
It's been in the works a long time:
Constitutional
hawks with long memories are quick to point out that this type of secrecy
was deeply ingrained during the Reagan years, specifically back in 1987
when then U.S. Attorney General William French Smith blew the whistle
on a fairly low ranking Marine officer by the name of Oliver North.
According
to Smith, Lt. Col. Oliver North directly helped draft a plan in 1984 to
impose martial law in the United States in the event of an emergency.
This secret plan would suspend the U.S. Constitution and turn over control
of the government to the little known agency at that time: FEMA. This
plan would appoint military commanders to run state and local governments.
Implementation of this plan would have been triggered by violent and wise
spread internal dissent, disagreement with government policy or national
opposition to any U.S. military invasion abroad. Essentially, it amounted
to a complete and total suspension of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of
Rights.
Investigators
who uncovered this plan believe that between 1983 - 1986, North's office
was the 'central command center' for this informal secret structure which
involved more than the illegal sale of arms to Iran and illegal funding
of the underground war in Nicaragua under President Ronald Reagan. "Lifers"
in the military were shocked, saying at the time that no Lt. Colonel is
ever given the kind of power North was apparently given within this secret
structure. So great was his authority, he could have the orbits of sophisticated
satellites altered to follow Soviet ships around the world or launch high-flying
spy aircraft on secret missions. Some even compared this whole operation
as eerily similar to the one portrayed in the movie, Clear and Present
Danger starring Harrison Ford (1994).
My full column
can be read
here.
Americans
would do well to remember these words by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn,
Associated Press, June 3, 1994: "I think that our American people
will welcome a Russian military force for peace-keeping purposes." If
that doesn't alarm people, perhaps this will from the Sacramento Bee
Forum section, November 30, 1997: Our civilian-military face off - The
Bill of Rights no obstacle for Corps:
"Some
Marines say they can see the day when the Corps will be required to execute
Haiti-like missions, or worse, within the borders of the United States....Because
of the rising potential for civil disobedience within the inner cities,
it is inevitable the U.S. military will be employed more often within
American borders....To enable the Marines to execute these new domestic
missions in the same way that they do abroad, Major Reeves calls for major
alterations in U.S. laws."
After
Katrina, Bush's lackeys began floating the idea of a military first response
for any national disaster - in other words, erode Posse Comitatus. Nothing
new from our boy in the Oval Office:
"I
also want to know all the facts about the government response to Hurricane
Katrina. The storm involved a massive flood, a major supply and security
operation, and an evacuation order affecting more than a million people.
It was not a normal hurricane -- and the normal disaster relief system
was not equal to it. Many of the men and women of the Coast Guard, the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, the United States military, the National
Guard, Homeland Security, and state and local governments performed skillfully
under the worst conditions. Yet the system, at every level of government,
was not well-coordinated, and was overwhelmed in the first few days. It
is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority
and a broader role for the armed forces -- the institution of our government
most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice." George
Bush, September 15, 2005
Don't
kid yourself. The trappings for martial law are already in place and functioning.
Americans are getting fed up with the destruction of all we hold dear
and the Unseen Hand - the shadow government - knows it.
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