Kissy Kissy

Are Shays and Bush, secret lovers?

Is It Time to Waterboard McCain?

In the article linked below, it seems that John McCain knows how to catch Osama Bin Laden but refuses to help the authorities capture him.

I have some questions for John McCain...

1. Why is John McCain protecting Osama Bin Laden?
2. Why does John McCain want Osama Bin Laden to remain free and keep committing acts of terrorism?
3. Why does John McCain want Osama Bin Laden to keep killing Americans?
4. Why doesn't McCain want Osama Bin Laden captured?

We've been paying million dollar bounties to capture and torture goat herders, on the off chance that they may have seen of heard something in our search for Osama Bin Laden. And most of those people we've tortured were innocent and had to be released.

So now we have someone that not only knows how to catch Osama Bin Laden, but is also helping him to elude capture by withholding this information.

This is a classic Jack Bauer situation. We know that John McCain has information that could stop the next terrorist attack. We know where to find John McCain. We know that John McCain will not willingly divulge the information necessary to stop another terrorist attack.

Isn't this exactly the reason that our government tortures people?

So why isn't John McCain in Gitmo for colluding with Osama Bin Laden? Helping a terrorist elude capture is a crime. Withholding information that can lead to the capture of Osama Bin Laden is treason.

McCain’s Secret Plan to Capture Bin Laden

John McCain says in almost every stump speech that he knows how to capture Osama bin Laden and that he’d follow the al Qaeda leader to the “Gates of Hell.”

So Washington Wire was wondering, what does McCain know that President Bush and the Pentagon don’t about how to sweep up America’s most elusive enemy.

“One thing I will not do is telegraph my punches. Osama bin Laden will be the last to know,” he said today while riding on the back of his bus between Florida events. In other words: he’s not telling. Why not share his strategy with the current occupant of the White House? “Because I have my own ideas and it would require implementation of certain policies and procedures that only as the president of the United States can be taken.”

I Live!

Yay! I'm 45 today!

In other news, the talking heads are effused about gasoline prices coming down.

Not a word about the new multi-billion dollar subsidy bill that Congress recently passed to buy the oil industry off.

And on the SOTU... The wars are great and we're surging in Afghanistan! And we're gonna keep surging in Iraq. 20,000 soldiers are coming home, as they have served so long that they can't be redeployed unless they volunteer.

Bush can't keep us safe unless he listens in and records all of our private communications.

The economy is great and wonderful! We have the best economy ever! Never has the world seen such a great economy as we have now!

We're number one in health care!

Iran is evil and must be destroyed. Bush looks forward to the day when the Iranian people win their freedom!

Al Qaeda is on the run. Al Qaeda is all powerful. Al Qaeda is extremely dangerous. We're winning against Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is losing. Al Qaeda is growing stronger. We must be diligent in our fight against Al Qaeda... Does anyone know how to spell Al Qaeda?

We will have more wars!

Happy Birthday Thomas Paine!

He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.



When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.

January 29, 1737 – June 8, 1809

Making My Heart Ache

For those who've never seen or heard her before, let me introduce you to Kate Rusby.

I saw her husband, John McCusker when he played with the Battlefield Band. During breaks, he was serving drinks. My wife wanted to adopt him, he was so polite at 19.

You can see him in the background backing her up on various instruments. He's lost most of his hair.

I think I've featured Kate before. It doesn't hurt to feature her again.

Who Will Sing Me Lullabies


Sir Eglamore


Jolly Ploughboys


Underneath The Stars


The Wild Goose

The Stimulas Package Bribe

Well, it looks like this new stimulus package is just another tax cut for businesses. The bribe money that citizens are getting is just to make us feel better about the tax cuts for business.

I have to wonder, if the government loves tax cuts so much, why tax us at all? They have an infinite quantity of dollars to borrow and spend. What they spend has nothing to do with their income. So why do they need our taxes?

Me And Spider

This is me and Spider (Drew Minshew) at the White Elephant Saloon in Fort Worth.
I'm the heavy guy on guitar. Spider is playing the harmonica.

I wrote this song a few years ago. It inspired by a comment I read about how all the world's oil could fit in a river a few feet deep, fifteen feet wide and flowing at a walking pace. I thought that was a great metaphor.



Black River
Words and music by
Jack Dingler

I live my life on Black River
That’s the kind of life I have led
I spent my days on Black River
That’s how I kept my family fed.

Refrain
Now the tide won’t rise on black river
And they say it’s due to decline
I can’t wrap my thoughts around that
It’s too much for my troublin’ mind

It was once, such a wild thing
Struggling against the earth to be free
Now it’s such a shy thing
We must coax it gingerly

They say nuthin’ can last forever
And they say this too shall pass
I look out on to vlack river
And I wonder how long this can last

They say black river will last forever
It will just cost more to take a drink
They say there will always be a black river
What else could anyone think?

Now I look on in morbid disbelief
At the things that my fellow man has done
I look to the East and I see the rising sun
And I know our day has just begun.

They say black river will last forever
It will just cost more to take a drink
They say there will always be a black river
What else could anyone think?

This Time Really Is Different!

I'm going on record now in calling this the Recession/Depression the first big one of my lifetime. I know that so far, a few other economic downturns are still worse than this one, but I am convinced that we have not hit bottom yet.

The thing that makes this one different, is that I believe that we are at Peak Oil production. We only have one direction to go, and that is down. Every recovery in the past, was correlated with a rise in energy consumption. And every time, the new rise, broke records.

So how can we have a recovery, when we are at the top? I don't believe that we can. We have to drop, probably 10% or so, in consumption to have even a short term recovery before another crash. Then during that recovery, we can come back up 4%-5% in consumption and stall out again.

This Stimulus / Bribery package that Congress is cobbling together won't fix anything. Even Bernanke knows that. But Congress understands that they have to pretend to be helping the little guy during the election year. they seem to understand the essential problem. They've worked to make sure that as few people as possible have most of the money. Those people don't need to spend it. Now they realize that if people don't have money, then it won't get spent and it won't power the economy. They are getting bribed to help impoverish our nation and funnel all the money they can to the wealthy in other countries. But now the US taxpayer can't give wealthy internationals more money. Congress can't just give the Bin Ladens, The House of Saud, or any other planetary owners more money directly, so they'll give it the taxpayer, so the taxpayer can give it to these people when they make payments on their credit cards.

I'm not surprised that Bush wanted this rebate to go mostly to the wealthy and big business. He's always believed that those who don't need more money should get it whether they want it or not, while those who do, should be denied. I don't think anyone expects him to change now. Bush would've been happy just giving a few billion to the Bin Laden family. He doesn't have any guile.

Economic stimulus packages will actually make the situation worse in the long run. The economy can't grow beyond it's resources. It must have energy in order to produce goods and services.

As many have pointed out, the best way to mitigate this problem is through conservation. And that conservation needs to begin with the US Gov and the money supply. The growth of debt must be slowed dramatically in order to stop the inflation of the dollar, as it increases in quantity but continues to chase fewer and fewer goods and services. To accomplish this, the wars must be ended, and the hemorrhaging of our economy that goes with it. Our government needs to shrink.

But I do not at all believe we will do these things. I would wager that we'll be hearing about how war is good for the economy and how we need to expand our wars to create jobs. Essentially slaughtering our young men and women for cash as if they were livestock. From the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfield perspective, I imagine they already think of us as nothing but animals to begin with.

I still believe that there is a high probability that Bush will order a bombing run on Iran before he leaves office. According to some sources, Bush has a reputation for trashing places on the way out. They say he's destroyed a few apartments, just for fun. The next President will inherit the mess that George will create, and ultimately will be held accountable for the wars that Bush leaves behind. Like apartments that he's trashed when moving out, he'll trash the USA as he leaves office.

To recap, things must get a lot worse before they can get a little better. And nothing can get so bad, that Bush can't make it worse.

Forget about a meaningful recovery. Take your rebate check and use it to pay down debt. Work to become as debt free as you can. If you have a mortgage, try to pay it off in accelerated payments. It will be hard enough to pay taxes in the future. Nearly impossible to repay debts with interest as the money supply available to the working class continues to shrink.

Fed Rate Cut

Fudge!

Thanks Edgar for the links to this poor guy.

Day trading, and playing the Stock Market is gambling, and it is an addiction. I've played the market and I know what it feels like. It can be hard to get out when the market is high. You want to spin the wheel one more time.

In 1999-2001 I had bit of money in the market. My biggest loss was $6k on some stock that I didn't really believe in. Overall, I got out of the market on top with a huge profit, and coasted for a while, trying to keep my business afloat. Ultimately I lost that gamble, and enjoyed two years of lackluster employment leaving me on the verge of foreclosure and finally forcing me into bankruptcy.

During those years of unemployment, I actually had potential employers tell me that they wouldn't hire me, because I did have my own business. They said that I wouldn't be able to follow direction because I wasn't used to having a boss. Their stupidity and ignorance was quite amazing to me, and I'm glad I'm not working for such retarded idiots today. Every business owner has a boss. They must bow down to customers, investors and The Fates.

After all has been said and done, I'm treading water and doing okay. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get through this year and finish out my bankruptcy. It has been hard. I'm paying back 100% and my attorney and the courts don't seem to believe in cost of living adjustments. So I'm getting pinched by inflation as the cost of living increases and my wages drop while my payments remain fixed. My attorney says that for $400 I can file new paperwork and gamble that things will get better. They have a habit of saying that they did things, they didn't do, so I think there's a 90% chance they'll take my money and never file. And if they do file, I figure there's a 50% chance they'll screw it up and things will be worse. I have a really crummy law firm working for me. I'll be glad when this is over.

But after watching this next video, I feel a little better.

This guy lost $38k over last weekend. Lot's of people have ragged him for making some stupid moves. He even rags himself. But through it, he shows us that he still has a sense of humor. When I worked for a brokerage that was later purchased by a major bank, I was struck by the huge egos that came with the gambling mentality. I know that people who base their sense of self worth on the quantity of money they hold, are particularly hit hard when their money runs low. I think though that this guy is going to be okay.

Rant From Sarajevo

This guy from Sarajevo seems to know more about problems here in the US, than my neighbors do.

I saw a sad sight this morning. 12 bags of leaves set out for the garbage. Had I seen them over the weekend, they'd be in my compost and the corners of my garden now. As it is now, our local leaf farmers have successful paid to have them delivered to a landfill to rot in a soup of toxic debris.

And what sense is there to all of this? Why do we farm leaves and grass clippings in order to fill up landfills? Why has leaf and grass farming become such an integral part of our lives in the US? Why would we rather grow grass clippings to fill our landfills, than food to fill our bellies?

On another note, my experiment in wheat is doing well. In fact, I've hardly done anything with it. I wound a soaker hose through that patch when I planted it, and over the last few months, I've only watered twice. I'm not sure it needed it then. It is tall and lush. And even with the freezing temps we've had this past week, bright green. It just looks strange to see with all the shades of brown that fill the rest of my yard. Here at the office, my coworkers want me to bring a loaf of bread up, after I harvest. :)

Well ok, here's the rant...

What The Hell Happened To My 401k!!!!!!?????

For those of you that still have something left to lose, this video explains why you're losing it.

Gardening Again!

Ok it's January. We've seen some snowflakes today and I'm thinking about starting seed pots tomorrow.

To help set in the mood, here's a few Bill Mollison videos on Permaculture.

The Global Gardener - Cool Climates - Part 1


The Global Gardener - Cool Climates - Part 2


The Global Gardener - Cool Climates - Part 3


The Global Gardener - Cool Climates - Part 4

Theocrats Mike Huckabee and Joe Scarborough

In this video we learn that Mike Huckabee and Joe Scarborough want to change the US Constitution to reflect biblical teachings.

Mike Huckabee argues that the Bible is a better guide to lawmaking, than contemporary documents like the US Constitution. I would hazard a guess that the Magna Carta fits this view of contemporary. Perhaps even quaint forms of government like a Republic, are too contemporary for him.

Mike Huckabee in previous campaigns brags about how he's signed off on more executions than his opponents. When he brings back stoning as a legitimate form of Capital Punishment, will he be first in line to throw a stone?

He is leading a movement to eliminate science and turn the US back to the dark ages, of magic and superstition. And according to scholars of the rise and fall of ancient civilizations, this is a common trend in their collapse. As they decline, they reject reason, and become more dependant on superstition. And as things get worse, they rely on prayer and faith to turn things around, as they continue to make irrational choices and scapegoat others.

We Won The Surge!

We've been hearing over and over again that "The Surge" in Iraq has been successful. Below are the benchmarks we must have achieved.

(A) The United States strategy in Iraq, hereafter, shall be conditioned on the Iraqi government meeting benchmarks, as told to members of Congress by the President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and reflected in the Iraqi Government’s commitments to the United States, and to the international community, including:

(i) Forming a Constitutional Review Committee and then completing the constitutional review.

(ii) Enacting and implementing legislation on de-Baathification.

(iii) Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources of the people of Iraq without regard to the sect or ethnicity of recipients, and enacting and implementing legislation to ensure that the energy resources of Iraq benefit Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, Kurds, and other Iraqi citizens in an equitable manner.

(iv) Enacting and implementing legislation on procedures to form semi-autonomous regions.

(v) Enacting and implementing legislation establishing an Independent High Electoral Commission, provincial elections law, provincial council authorities, and a date for provincial elections.

(vi) Enacting and implementing legislation addressing amnesty.

(vii) Enacting and implementing legislation establishing a strong militia disarmament program to ensure that such security forces are accountable only to the central government and loyal to the Constitution of Iraq.

(viii) Establishing supporting political, media, economic, and services committees in support of the Baghdad Security Plan.

(ix) Providing three trained and ready Iraqi brigades to support Baghdad operations.

(x) Providing Iraqi commanders with all authorities to execute this plan and to make tactical and operational decisions, in consultation with U.S commanders, without political intervention, to include the authority to pursue all extremists, including Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias.

(xi) Ensuring that the Iraqi Security Forces are providing even handed enforcement of the law.

(xii) Ensuring that, according to President Bush, Prime Minister Maliki said `the Baghdad security plan will not provide a safe haven for any outlaws, regardless of [their] sectarian or political affiliation’.

(xiii) Reducing the level of sectarian violence in Iraq and eliminating militia control of local security.

(xiv) Establishing all of the planned joint security stations in neighborhoods across Baghdad.

(xv) Increasing the number of Iraqi security forces units capable of operating independently.

(xvi) Ensuring that the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature are protected.

(xvii) Allocating and spending $10 billion in Iraqi revenues for reconstruction projects, including delivery of essential services, on an equitable basis.

(xviii) Ensuring that Iraq’s political authorities are not undermining or making false accusations against members of the Iraqi Security Forces.


Now that we've won "The Surge" and all of these objectives have been met, can we quit fighting in this occupation, and bring our boys home?

Reasons To Vote For Ghouliani

Cassandra On Peak Oil