I Agree With Ron Paul: Do Not Bail Out Wall Street And Mortgage Lenders

Ron Paul is indeed the only politician with any common sense, I truly believe that. In an article published today, Congressman Paul offers his take on the economic crisis. His understanding of economics just shames other politicians.

Neither Obama or McCain will be getting my vote this year—both of them have failed miserably to offer even the least bit of insightful commentary on the situation much less come up with any kind of solution.

Ron Paul has been warning about this very thing for a long time. Investors take their chances, they know the risks. I don’t think the government ought to be bailing anyone out. Especially not those who make their money speculating and then cry about it when they lose their ass due to their own stupidity and panic which contributes to the economic crisis.

Let them all go down. Why should the American taxpayers spend $1 trillion dollars to bail out banks, lenders, corporations, speculators, investors and people living above and beyond their means? We shouldn’t. Let them all go down, and in the long run we’ll be better off.

The Federal Reserve needs to be eliminated once and for all. Its constant tinkering and malpractice in the realm of finance and economics has helped lead to this ruinous situation. It’s time to pay the piper—not write him another IOU.

Meanwhile, Fed chairman Bernake said we risk a recession without a bailout. Hello…where the hell have you had your head for the last two years that we’ve actually been in one? Get rid of the Fed, the idiots who run it, and the idiots who support it—it is far past time to do so.

Besides if there are lots of foreclosures, investors and home shoppers who weren’t/aren’t living above their means will be able to buy them cheap on eBay.

The War Zone On The American Border

Regarding those still in denial about the state of social decay and violence that has become rampant in Mexico, I thought I might throw a few more logs on the fire. I suppose some people are simply in need of a bonfire that reaches to the heavens before they call it light enough to see by. This is for them.

Eleven decapitated bodies used for rituals; story from Sept. 1, 2008: Headless bodies may have been burned in ritual

Twenty-four people bound and shot, execution style; story from Sept. 13, 2008: Bodies of 24 shooting victims found in Mexico

Three Mexican chiefs of police seek asylum in USA as drug war spins out of control: Violence in Mexico spills across U.S. border

Assassinations of Mexican law enforcement officers, military officers, and civilian authorities has become routine. The Mexican people aren’t even so blind as to deny what is happening. They held large demonstrations to protest the violence just weeks ago, with hundreds of thousands of people participating.

2,682 people have lost their lives in Mexico’s violent drug war just this year alone (and that as of August 31, 2008) according to Mexican newspaper, El Universal.

Contrast that with 4,342 Palestinians that have died over more than four years in the second Intifada that has the whole Middle East and world leaders around the globe so concerned. There have been 4,469 coalition casualties in the war in Iraq as of September 12, 2008.

Comparing those numbers to the number of deaths in the drug war in Mexico gives one pause. And let us keep in mind that those killed in the drug wars in Mexico are not just the number of deaths due to crime in general and do not include your violent robberies and so forth. These are deaths where drug cartel soldiers and hit-men attack people at birthdays or funerals or bingo parlors and kill men, women and children (yes, even 16 month old infants), where they gun down police officers, assassinate Army officers, and kill each other.

As I have previously pointed out in one reply to a comment on my post entitled The Mexican Threat To America (Terrorists, Drug Cartels, Russia, Cuba, And Red Dawn), I’m not the only one who thinks Mexico is on the road to becoming a failed state. Stratfor has posed the question and explained how that just might be the case very nicely.

See for yourself what one of the leading firms in the intelligence/geo-political analysis field thinks about Mexico’s current condition: Mexico: On the Road to a Failed State?

Since the Mexican cartels control most of the drug trade in the USA, it is time for Americans to start demanding their government take stronger measures to protect our borders. Neither Obama or McCain has any intention of doing so. In fact, they intend to keep allowing a steady stream of illegal aliens, drugs and criminals across our border, fully intending to offer amnesty to them.

When you consider such how ineffectual the USA has been in dealing with what is going on right on our doorstep in Mexico (supposedly one of our closest “friends” and largest trading partner?) and how the USA failed to even come to the aid of our Georgian allies when Russia invaded, it isn’t hard to see the writing on the wall. Nations and empires rise and fall like the tides, and the same tide that is flooding Mexico will sink America…it is only a matter of time.

The failure of our governments to adequately prepare us for the future, to alter our infrastructure, to alter our energy consumption and resource utilization, to secure our borders and defend our sovereignty and insulate our energy needs from sandal-wearing goat herders and cave-dwelling radicals shows how incredibly inept and unfocused our government is. The concern has for too long been politicians making money for themselves and their lobbyists, and Americans will pay the price.

As global water shortages and global warming (doesn’t matter if it’s natural or the result of human activity) increase, as petroleum becomes more scarce, as the global population explodes—all by the end of this century—America will find itself spread even thinner than we are today militarily, our nation’s status greatly diminished, and less and less able to do anything about it.

There is a war zone on our border, and it is going to spread. Don’t be fooled by the recent headlines that the FARC is finished and that there will be no more insurgencies in Latin America as Hugo Chavez himself suggested. History holds all the warnings we ought to heed, if we but listen.

Palin Would Make A Better President Than McCain, Obama Or Biden

Palin seems more Presidential than anyone else competing to get into the White House. After having watched her speech at the RNC, that is my opinion. Time on the job is obviously no guarantor of how well one will perform, and while I cut Obama some slack in that area because I firmly believe some of the best politicians you could possibly have are those who bring passion to the job and new ideas, he has a problem.

I’ve followed the occasional news about her since she won office, partly because my dad is always talking about going back to Alaska (where my folks lived for a while). She has been stirring the pot up in the Northwest for a while now. Compared to Obama, she has far more experience. You simply can’t compare being a first term senator to being the chief executive of the largest state in the union.

As Palin pointed out, Obama has authored two books but no important legislation at all. She also went after him and savaged his credentials pretty well. The fact that we’re actually winning the war in Iraq while he wants to cut and run like a coward—and never mentions victory except when speaking of his personal campaign—is a point she drove home quite well.

I don’t like the Republican party (or any other for that matter). I have to say though, I like Palin. She’s actually a bit of a reformer and trend-bucker and more in touch with the average person than McCain, Obama or Biden. It’s too bad we can’t get her on top of the ticket—I would vote for her.

As to whether or not she will attract Hillary’s disgruntled voters, who cares? She’s not some feminazi who wants to pretend to be a strong woman, but rather, Governor Palin actually is a strong woman. If I were a Republican, I wouldn’t really care to draw on the votes of those who only voted for Hillary because she was a woman. I would think that women who are actually strong women will end up voting for whichever candidate they think will do the best job rather than the one who gets teary-eyed because she occasionally gets help with her hair…when not dodging fictional snipers in Sarajevo.

I bet Governor Palin would have grabbed a rifle and been firing back at the snipers anyway.

That’s the kind of President I would like to see.

Now…that still doesn’t do anything to move me away from my intent to vote for Ron Paul this November. McCain still wants to give the country away to illegal aliens with his amnesty plans—the same as Obama.

The most important issue we face as Americans (and it’s the single most important issue for the survival of any nation) is preserving our country and McCain and his party refuse to address it—preferring, instead, to hide from it.

Obama talks the talk, but he is decidedly unable to walk the walk. Palin, on the other hand…I bet she would give us even better tough gal photo-ops than Russia’s Putin has.

Besides, she gave her kids all really different and special names. And she has a child with special needs, and sticks by her daughter who is facing one of the most difficult challenges in life. Those things say a lot about a person.

Biden? Well, he’s been on the wrong side of every foreign policy issue in America for decades, and he wants to take your guns away. Palin? She enjoys hunting. You don’t need any more contrast between those two—anyone who believes in the right to bear arms is unlikely to vote for Obama/Biden, regardless of how they are registered to vote.

The Beijing Farce, AKA The Olympics

I’m glad I have boycotted the Olympics and not watched a single moment of it on television. You can’t hardly miss it for the media coverage online however. All of it just drives home the point that I am indeed glad to have boycotted this farce of an Olympics in China.

While President Bush was enjoying the farce and frolicking about in at the games in one of the nations with the worst human rights records in existence, one of our allies was invaded by Russia. In the meantime, it seemed like every day brought news of some athlete being disqualified, giving up their metals, deported and someone imprisoned or murdered at the Olympics. And then we have the underage Chinese gymnasts and the IOC’s cover up.

No one wants to offend China. Everyone wants to sweep things under the rug and kiss ass.

I’m not just boycotting this Olympics…I’m boycotting them all from now on. The Olympics aren’t anything but an occasional feel-good get-together these days. They have no integrity whatsoever.

And really, indoor bike racing? That’s sort of like calling golf a sport…

I suppose most people in the world prefer to watch two guys in spandex hurrying around in circles on an indoor wooden track than watch those in Tibet, Georgia and Darfur dying, though.

Russians Seize US Military Vehicles In Georgia

Russian soldiers seized American military Humvees and took some 20 Georgian soldiers prisoner, seizing the soldiers and vehicles in a key Georgian port. The vehicles were awaiting shipment back to the USA after being used in military exercises by Georgian forces before the recent fighting broke out, apparently.

How will the Bush administration address this issue? The response so far has bordered on cowardice already, and now Russia is seizing US military equipment on the home turf of an ally who has been more supportive of our efforts in the War on Terror than many NATO and EU members. This sort of outrage needs a strong response, stronger than just empty rhetoric and halting joint military exercises.

This is the same as violating an American embassy when you get right down to it. It is a blatant and provocative act, and we should return the favor. Oh wait….we don’t really have anyone in Georgia to help our allies or ourselves.

We need to demand the immediate release of our vehicles and implement punitive measures. Perhaps the EU, NATO and USA need to implement immediate sanctions against all Russian fuel exports and other goods? Let them find their market for their oil wealth suddenly shrunken and feel some economic pain. That will put a strain on their military spending and resurgent desire for military conquest.

NATO should also immediately grant membership to Belarus, Ukraine and Moldava if they want it, and then Georgia immediately after Russian withdrawal from Georgia proper. Then, NATO peacekeepers need to be sent into Georgia and the other two nations and draw a clear line, letting Russia know that Europe isn’t going to tolerate any more Russian conquest. The ONLY smart response to Russian aggression is a unified Europe. The only honorable response (though perhaps less than ideal) by the USA is to send troops and weapons systems to defend the territorial integrity of our Georgian allies and NATO allies. The eastern borders of NATO need to be strengthened.

Part of the reasons this has happened is because of the huge draw-down of our forces begun under President Clinton and the myopic and inept handling of foreign policy buy the miserably incapable Bush-Cheney administration. The whom have for the past two decades tried to steer the US military down the line of thinking that huge wars with major powers were not likely for the US and our NATO allies in Europe are finally being revealed for what they are and were–incredibly short-sighted thinkers.

America has a very real need for a greater number of certain weapons systems and more combat divisions. Relying solely on air and sea power and some light and fast pipe dream for future combat to all be against poorly armed peasants armed with shoddy weapons and sandals is ridiculous. The whole Rumsfeld/Clinton mentality is as ridiculous as the President we have leading our nation. McCain and Obama both seem woefully inadequate to deal with the problems of the world, and I have to say that Jack Cafferty raises some good points about McCain and the next President that will lead us.

I don’t think we have a good candidate in the running at all. Not one smart enough or experienced enough or strong enough to deal with the world we are facing. Our system of democracy is a sham and broken, and money and the special interest groups and corporations determine who leads us–not any merits of leadership. At this juncture in history, the next four years will be critical to the future of America and Europe. I have no confidence in McCain or Obama to be able to lead effectively. Both are content to give away America to illegal aliens while our soldiers are dying in the Middle East to protect those who hate Western civilization…while Russia is savagely mauling democracy like, well…a Russian bear.

If we’re lucky, Russia’s leaders are cocky but not bold. It’s one thing to push Georgia around, another to attempt to do so with Ukraine or Belarus. If Russia is ever going to consider actual expansionist policies, invading Ukraine and Belarus right now would be an opportunity that would be hard to pass up with the West and Europe basically doing nothing but talking and fretting, tied down in the Middle East.

A resurgent Russia is not something coming out of left field. There were many analysts who warned against just this very thing even as the USSR disintegrated. The Pentagon might want to rehire some of them to start replacing the analysts who aren’t doing a very good job for them right now.

Speaking of the Middle East and Eurasia…

There’s a very real threat to the region of Eurasa/central Asia that comes from Sino-Russian cooperation. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan ought to be very worried right about now. Russia has been going on for some time about the need to fight Islamic terrorists and separatists. The West should not drag its feet just now, not when you consider some what-if scenarios. We can only hope someone at the Pentagon isn’t so blind as to not consider something such as a joint war of convenience by Russia and China based on such a pretext and leads to the splitting of Kazakhstan and/or neighboring countries.

The destabilizing influence that would have on Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention Pakistan and India would be considerable. We should beware the potential aims of a Russia geared at domination of the Black and Caspian seas. Two other vulnerabilities exist in the form of the region of Albania, Macedonia and Greece, where Russian meddling could easily cause violence and discord. Turkey’s strategic importance is growing as a result of Russia’s invasion of Georgia (not that it hasn’t ever been strategically important, just that at this moment, it comes sharply into focus as to why it always has been for those who haven’t bothered to read their history), and stoking fires in the vicinity of Greece and Turkey might give Russian leadership a pretext for more Black Sea shenanigans.

Speaking of shenanigans…I wonder what the Irish think of this right now, and if they feel as comfortable as they do in Belarus and the Ukraine?

Strangest of all, though, is the thought that the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili may actually be working in a covert manner with Russian leadership to set the stage for a second attack aimed at prying Georgia away from democracy and taking it back under Russian control. Russia already has 5000 troops in Armenia, and with the recent invasion of Georgia, the entire Caucasus region is filled to brimming with Russian troops and equipment.

And Turkey is expressing solidarity with Russia, which on the surface doesn’t make much sense when you consider Turkey has a region ready to break away.

Now we will see what nations have backbone and which nations are cowards and economic hostages. The WTO and the G8 are under the microscope here, as are the EU, NATO and the USA. Their responses and the weight of any response will either encourage or discourage more of the same, not only from Russia, but from other nations that might perceive weaknesses in Western resolve. We cannot afford that when Africa is considerably unstable, there are tensions in southeast Asia in multiple locales and the influence of Russian, Chinese, and Iranian governments and Middle Eastern terrorist organizations are on the rise in Latin America.

Whatever Russian intentions may be, it is unlikely they bode well for the West, the Caucasus region and the Middle East. How the West responds will determine how much harder it will be to fight the coming wars we that are almost inevitable, given history and politics and such things as global food shortages, a population explosion this century of unprecedented proportions and displacement of large populations as sea levels rise throughout the rest of the century.

Russian Conquest Should Be Stopped Before It Gains Traction

Russia has made it clear that they are seeking to overthrow the democratically elected government in Georgia. NATO, the EU, and the USA cannot afford to let this happen. Once it starts, Russian conquest will continue. Russia has been desirous of reclaiming old glories and former satellite countries for some time, and now they are rolling the dice.

NATO or the USA needs to send troops to Georgia, in order to aid in internal defense and stabilization operations, and to defend it against Russia if necessary. Europe is facing a dangerous threat to the future and stability of the region right now, and the rest of the world will face that same threat if it isn’t stopped soon. A resurgent Russia will seek to spread its involvement worldwide.

Make no mistake. Russia is out to topple a democratically elected government of a free nation. If the Russians are not stopped now, they won’t stop at all. Ukraine will be next, and then other nations…Perhaps Estonia and Latvia? Did we win the Cold War only to roll over and say, “Here, you can have it all back?”

Are we going to let Russia, have its way with Europe again? Russia cannot beat the West militarily, and if it comes right down to it, will they be willing to risk a nuclear war with the West collectively? There won’t be anything left of Russia should they win, and nothing left if they lose. The West should not be afraid of a conventional confrontation with Russia.

As many of us have long thought, Russia is still a threat to the USA and Europe. In fact, a lot of us have pointed out the dangers of focusing too much on war in the Middle East and losing valuable skill sets and weapons systems needed to wage a large conventional war. America is always trying to fight the last war or some far off concept war rather than the looming 900lb. gorillas in the room—Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Pakistan.

Russia has been making raids deep into Georgia and is attempting to blockade the nation at sea. That is not an attempt to protect peace keepers in South Ossetia. Also, Russian backed separatists are using this opportunity and Russian provided cover to launch their own attacks.

Is the West so cowardly that it will do nothing? A democratically elected government that has been a better ally to the USA than the majority of European nations is being overthrown, and we sit by doing nothing. This is shameful and cowardly, and completely un-American.

The world should not make the mistake of appeasement again like it did with Hitler. Where the West simply voted to recognize Kosovo, this is Russia invading a sovereign nation and wresting two regions of that nation away by force. Is the world so blind?

Through the grapevine, there are rumors of Western professional volunteers interested in heading to Georgia to help them clean the trash out that has blown in from the north and west. I find the idea interests me.

Russia has long sought a land bridge southward. Georgia will be one more building block in that bridge if the West does not step up to the plate now. This is a threat as great as Hitler posed to the world. Russia will continue south as it once did in Afghanistan; do we really want Russia perched on the borders of Iran and Iraq and Turkey and threatening the entire Black Sea region?

Make no mistake, there will be no cease fire until Russia has wrested South Ossetia and Abkhazi from Georgia. Russian assassinations around the world the past few years and their growing militancy is a threat to democracy and Western civilization. Perhaps greater than Hitler’s Nazi Germany, because this is a far more powerful nation with a nuclear arsenal. Half of Europe suffered at the hands of Russia, and is in threat of doing so again.

Having declared their intention to topple the government of Georgia, Russia is no longer peace-keeper, but invader and conqueror. Russia has left the realm of neutrality and is now an aggressor that needs to be repelled.

Russian Expansionism Begins Again

Today Georgia launched an offensive aimed at retaking the region of South Ossetia, and Russia responded with a military invasion of South Ossetia. Heavy fighting has already taken place and neither side is showing sides of backing down just yet. What will NATO and the EU do, given that Georgia has been seeking a path to join NATO?

The hundreds are dead already and the death toll is rapidly rising as the conflict rapidly escalates.

NATO ought to be nipping a second Iron Curtain in the bud, and supporting Georgia, demanding a Russian withdrawal from Georgia. Even if not already a member of NATO, how will it look to a prospective future member if it gets no support when standing up to the number one threat NATO has faced since its inception?

If something isn’t done here, now, in Georgia…we’re going to see more of it soon. Only an idiot would think otherwise. History bears it out. While the West is fighting its global war on terror, Russia is ramping up its militancy. So is China. China especially has been spreading arms and military logistics and training in a variety of places, from Africa to South America. Russia has been testing NATO with its bomber and fighter fly-overs into NATO and EU airspace–and probably laughing about the lack of any reaction.

Now, when the West is showing signs of wear and tear from the war on terror is the perfect time for Russian expansionist urges to begin playing out, and that’s just what we’re seeing. This isn’t some spur of the moment scuffle in the Caucasus region, but something that has been brewing for quite some time. I have $5 that says as US troops begin withdrawing from the Middle East (especially with an apparent timetable for withdrawal from Iraq at hand) American soldiers will end up in Eastern Europe. Any takers?

As Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili says, this is something Russia has been building up for over the course of several months, and even years. NATO and the EU and the USA have a tough choice to make–to support a country who is seeking democracy and to preserve their freedom, or to do nothing and let Russia do what it did for half a century.

It is alarming how the media is ignoring this story, all to focus on the Olympics in China, where human rights mean nothing. How disgusting. Western media doesn’t want to focus on this story because the West has grown cowardly it seems. We’re fine shooting poorly armed guys running about in the open desert in their robes and sandals, but not willing to confront a real, professional military it seems. No one in Europe wants to face Russia.

And Georgia, let’s not forget, has supported the US effort in the Middle East. Ignoring Georgia now is doing the same cowardly things the appeasers did when Hitler began his expansionism. Is President Bush going to support a fledgling democracy, or is he once again going to make America look like spineless cowards and weaklings with no moral backbone?

From Georgia, today…

When Russian and Abkhazian forces invaded northern Georgia in May…

China Makes Olympics Political, Bans Darfur Activist

You see, President Bush? Once again your ignorance of issues has made America look stupid. You are too morally decrepit and cowardly to boycott some fucking games over genocide, and the Chinese make you look like a fool. The Chinese revoked the visa of an athlete activist who has the guts to speak out about Darfur and the Chinese involvement, speed skater and gold medalist Joey Cheek (who was not going to compete, but to support fellow athletes).

How utterly gutless of the Chinese.

The worst part of it is that you, President Bush, make all Americans look bad and uncaring. As a leader you should represent the best of what our country is—instead, you represent the worst. Right along with the Olympic committee and the American athletes competing, you show no consideration for issues of humanitarian concern. I suppose that’s to be expected from a President that advocates torture, though, eh?

One more reason to be disgusted with America, those leading it, and the Olympics as a whole. I won’t be watching the Olympics again. I’m going to boycott the whole thing the rest of my life….for whatever that accomplishes. The gutless media outlets and networks too cowardly to take the Chinese government to task won’t get any viewing or reading from me.

In fact, I may vote Democrat this Fall just to protest President Bush’s horrible choice to attend the Beijing Olympics. I am pretty sure I don’t have anything made in China whatsoever, but I’m going to make sure and damn sure not buy another Chinese item.

Republicans Should Stick Tire Gauges Where They Will Do The Most Good

I don’t really care for Obama. Don’t particularly like any of hist platform issues. But he is right about one thing, and that is the way to end our oil dependency.

The GOP sending tire gauges to reporters and labeling them “Obama’s energy plan” are showing how stupid the Republican party is. He’s actually right, as it turns out.

I love the article that points it out. I mean, really, if drilling in the Gulf will only meet 1% of our current oil use by 2030, what’s the damn point? Why even bother? As this article points out, we would benefit more from people simply paying attention and doing what they’re supposed to do–keep their tires properly inflated and checking fluid levels and other routine maintenance.

Show your asses a little bit more, members of the GOP.

If we’re going to lose all our rights, liberties, and give away the nation to special interests and illegal aliens, maybe we might as well do whatever tiny thing we can to help get rid of oil companies that keep our economy in shambles in order to fatten their pockets–as responsible citizens? 200,000 more barrels of oil per day isn’t going to do anything when we use 20,000,000 barrels a day, so really, why bother?

The fact McCain is playing to fears and oil addiction with his politics just goes to show how morally bankrupt the man is. He wants to put a Band-aide on a massive wound leaking like a sieve instead of seeking proper medical attention. But what do you expect from a man that wants to give amnesty to illegal aliens and give away our country to foreign invaders?

Why I Left Grassfire.org Behind

There are some good ideas and some good causes out there. For a while, Grassfire.org seemed like it was a great tool to address issues that Congress was failing to tackle. However, it is apparent now that Grassfire.org is not a site I want to associate with.

Why is that? Well, I’ve been supportive of the majority of their efforts, and even blogged to help spread the messages they have been trying to get out in order to attract attention to specific issues. However, that changed recently with the site’s efforts to pressure members of Congress into allowing the issue of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to be debated in Congress.

On this issue, I am entirely at odds with Grassfire’s position. But that’s not why I unsubscribed from the Grassfire newsletter, deleted it from my bookmarks. It is because of censorship of a sort.

You see, when Grassfire first sent out its first alert about the issue and the efforts of Harry Reid to block the issue in Congress (and while I don’t particularly like him, I applaud his efforts on this issue), I had posted on their message boards how I disagreed on this issue. It was a rather tame posting as well. But trying today to go to the message boards, I find my IP address has been blocked. Whoa…that is the first time since I discovered the Internet back in 96 that anything like that has ever happened. I’m still puzzled about it, but in retrospect, I don’t care.

I’ve seen Grassfire.org for what it is. Opinions that don’t gel with the ‘powers that be’ are unwelcome it would appear. Further, the fact they’re trying to pressure Congress into allowing drilling in the Gulf of Mexico close to shore is reason enough to disassociate myself from the site. Out at sea is about the only place left you can escape the horrible skylines of America, plastered with high-rise buildings and crap advertising. Why screw that up and have ugly oil platforms dotting the horizon close to shore?

We need to be getting away from oil dependency, not looking for ways to drag it out as long as we can. There are already vast areas of the Gulf of Mexico where oil companies are already allowed to drill…but they have not bothered to. And, we have seen what happens when a hurricane blows through. Who feels the costs of that sort of supply interruption? Consumers. Oil companies are making profits in the billions every year, record profits even as they force record breaking prices on their customers. Coincidence? If you think so, perhaps you’ll be interested in this genie in a lamp that I have for sale…

We’re one of the most technologically advanced nations, and yet we pay far more for fuel than many nations do. At the other end of the spectrum, Venezuelans pay $0.12 per gallon compared to what we do here in America. Pretty pathetic that our government and technology can’t bring us closer to that price point, isn’t it? Even drilling in the Gulf won’t contribute to that. Oil companies will find some excuse to keep prices high…rebels sucked 1000 barrels out of some pipeline in Nigeria…there was a leak in a pipeline running through the Balkans….always some excuse why Americans will have to pay more even for oil we extract here at home.

It’s time to get away from letting oil corporations and utilities corporations control our lives. The only way we head in that direction and do so safely before the oil runs out and societies around the globe begin to suffer a wide variety of effects from that, is to do so now–while we have the resources, need, and the will to do so. Allowing drilling in areas close to shore will only spoil the coastline, fatten the pockets of oil companies at our expense, increase the risks of ecological disasters, keep us addicted to oil, and create a dangerous false sense of security by lulling people into complacency that causes them to ignore the issue and put it off on the next generation once again.

Any drilling in the Gulf is unlikely to produce any real change at all except in the minds of weak-willed traders anyway, not for several years. Hell, if traders simply were told to “grow a pair of balls” and quit selling over every panicky sounding piece of news it would do more for the economy than anything. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen that isn’t already happening? What really will change between now and next year on a global scale? We go to war with Iran? Obviously it will be to get Iran’s oil, right? Just like we’re draining Iraq dry of its oil 5 years later, right? We aren’t getting jack crap in the way of oil from Iraq. It would have been less costly to squeeze it out of oil shale than spending what we are on this war.

In any case, the oil companies have screwed up our world long enough and caused enough problems on a global scale that it is past time to move on and find another paradigm. Since Grassfire.org is too myopic in its agenda, I took this as a sign that it was time to move on. Any organization that is a friend of big oil companies is no friend of mine. It’s those same corporations that drive policies which keep our borders insecure and allow rampant illegal alien invasion and keep the income levels of the American people at levels that keep them near poverty.

It’s long past time to change our society, eliminate the attitudes that expect some divine right to speedy travel coast-to-coast and 60 mile commutes to work every day. Just because you bought into that sort of mindset does not mean the rest of us should suffer for it.

And since Grassfire is aligned with that very mindset which I find a detriment to our national security and social well-being, I am only too happy to leave it behind.

Goodbye Grassfire. And good riddance.

Taking It To Yet Another Content Thief

I hate scrapers. I hate people who steal original work from others and try to pass it off as their own. Here is one more on the list of many I have dealt with. My original post: Comparing Tactics Of WTO Negotiations To Nazis

Check out how the loser who has the blog Cumulatelove.com stole an article of mine and tried to pass it off as original work, and my response.

Here’s a screenshot…

My blog posts being stolen...

Here’s what I posted as a comment:

You have reproduced my original content without my express permission and without attribution, which constitutes a violation of copyright under the Digital Millennium Act, and is therefore a crime.

If you do not remove my content from your site immediately, I will contact your hosting company, ISP, and domain registrars and inform them of your criminal activity. This means Vivid Media GmbH all the way through PublicDomainRegistry.com and proper law enforcement authorities in Germany and the USA will be notified.

You have 48 hours to comply before I will pursue legal action. Content theft is a serious crime.

Sincerely,

Sean Wilson
My Errant Mind
http://errantmind.wordpress.com/
(original author of this stolen content)

This is another example of the crap and spam and scraping that goes on through the company Vivid Media GmbH and other such companies that provide convenient cover for spammers and hackers alike. It’s time for governments to crack down on who can and cannot become a domain registrar, and perhaps licensing webhosts or something that makes them more accountable.

YouTube Divorce Case: Woman Whines About $750,000 Settlement

Tricia Walsh-Smith is whining about her $750,000 divorce settlement after a judge appropriately decided to grant her husband, Phillip Smith, a divorce in the wake of her YouTube escapades.

Unhappy with the decision, she suggests her husband is “…basically throwing me out on the street.”

With $750,000 from a prenuptial agreement, which she agreed to, and which the judge enforced. What’s not to like about that? Oh, I know, she won’t be living the lifestyle she’s accustomed to, is that it?

The $750,000 Mean Street

Maybe she should do something to earn the money that will let her live the lifestyle she was accustomed to. Or, better yet, she should get over herself and join the rest of the world’s non-millionaires.

I mean, it must be a rough street to live on when you can just pay cash for a new home, new car and go back to college if you like…or start your own business.

Who in their right mind likes that kind of whiner, really? Someone whining because they only received $750,000 in a divorce settlement is about the last person on Earth you would want to have to endure for company. I say about only because there are those that whine about getting millions in a divorce settlement. Now, if she had to go dig through a trash can for her meals, I would cut her some slack, but folks, that just isn’t the case.

I’m sorry, but if you can buy a lear jet or 60′ sailboat with your divorce settlement (even used), you don’t qualify for being “put out on the street” status. Literally, billions of people around the world would love to be in your shoes.

And if you’re going to argue that her attorneys will get a lot of that, so what? She would have it all if she had simply agreed to the terms of the prenuptial agreement and not hired one. I have no sympathy for her at all.

Let’s look at what earned her a paltry $750,000 settlement.

Is Spousal Support An Antiquated Practice We Should Abolish?

The notion that someone is entitled to someone else’s retirement funds, wages, or anything else if they do something to end a marriage is antiquated and the sort of inequality that still exists but that you won’t see feminists doing anything about. The notion you should have to support a former spouse has no place in a modern, enlightened society when you get right down to it. The notion of legal partnerships being more of a basis for a relationship than those things which make a marriage relationship–such as love, fidelity, trust, caring about another, etc.—is part of the reason we have so many attorneys who help create more and more messy breakups by sticking their nose in the middle of what would have otherwise been amicable dissolutions of relationships.

It’s all about money and who can get as much as they can or hold on to as much as they can. What ever happened to two people going their way with what is theirs? Their debt, their income, their possessions, their choices and the repercussions thereof.

The Life We Choose

I know, I can hear those women who will whine about “I gave up my life to have kids…” Yes, YOU DID. You chose to get married. You chose to have kids. And certainly there is a responsibility towards those kids. But that doesn’t change the fact that in a divorce, former spouses shouldn’t support former spouses. What needs to change, if anything, is putting responsibility in such cases (where those in a marriage feel they need equity and equal opportunity and time and fun and whatever else one sacrifices when raising kids) back on both parents to do their share in raising children. Even if it means fathers being stay at home dads for a couple years and then switching off as things go along. All things that should be decided ahead of time. What tends to get ignored in those cases where many women suggest they “gave up” something to raise their kids is the fact that SO DID THE HUSBAND/FATHER.

He gave up time with the children and his wife and time away from things he might like to do, and took on additional responsibilities as well. How then should a woman feel she is somehow owed for what she gave up—while the man shouldn’t be compensated for what he gave up? It’s like there is something unfair or wrong or to not like about being with or raising children in the first place in the minds of many. If that’s the case, you shouldn’t have had any to begin with. Sure, I would be all for having a working spouse help cover the relocation and resettling costs by a non-working spouse…but after that, their life is their responsibility, not their former spouse’s.

But, if you willingly choose to get married, have kids, and stay at home…well, that’s YOUR CHOICE. If at a later time, you regret your choice, someone else shouldn’t have to support you because YOU DIDN”T THINK AND PLAN EVERYTHING TO THE EXTENT YOU SHOULD HAVE. And that includes the husband as well. I’m all for there being a plan by both, agreements worked out ahead of time. Perhaps that’s what we need, is to embrace the whole legal mess attorneys have created in order to eliminate it. I mean if both a couple were required to sign a prenuptial and agree to the terms in order to get married, there should be no need for attorneys in a divorce at all.

Getting Lawyers Out Of The Equation

The judge can just see what the prenuptial states, and adjudicate the case accordingly. To each what they agreed to. A responsible thing. Eliminate attorneys altogether from the equation and send them back to dealing with criminal and corporate law or chasing ambulances. If the couple has had joint income (say, due to a business venture), make them produce the appropriate documents stating the percentage of partnership/incomes due, and assets and debts, revenue statements…from there, it’s all simple math.

The Marriage Didn’t Turn Out Like It Was Supposed To?

I am sure a lot of women will cry foul at my suggestion. Probably make statements like, “But what if he turns out to be an asshole or you just can’t get along and he’s basically broke the promise you made with your love?” I’m not unsympathetic and I understand where you’re coming from.

Couples Need To Take Responsibility For Their Actions

Perhaps you should have taken more time to get to know the person, though? Perhaps you should have money in savings (instead of wasting it all on one day out of vanity, which makes sense, right?) so that if you need to leave that whole excuse many abused women use to suggest that they can’t—because of finances or not having a place to stay—is eliminated? I’m not suggesting anything remotely like women are responsible for abuse in those cases, either, so hold your rantings inside. What I am suggesting is that we are all responsible to some degree for our own well-being, and if you choose to put yourself in a bad situation and then choose again to stay there, you have as much culpability in the crap you endure for simply not standing up for yourself.

I’ve heard more women than I care to whine about some guy, but who they keep going back to because “he’s really nice…unless he just got out on parole again, or is on crack, or when he’s not shooting up smack with my brother, or when he’s not beating the crap out me, or when he’s not trying to sleep with my sister…”

Yeah? Is there anything inside your head besides dead air space? If so, try using it.

If someone wants to argue the psychological aspects of it, tell it first to the rest of society who teaches women to be weak, not stand up for themselves, condones abuse, ignores those things like child abuse which create unhealthy mindsets in the first place, and to those men who won’t stand up for a woman—be she a member of their family or a complete stranger. When YOU have sufficiently crusaded and/or complained to others enough and changed the society we live in by doing YOUR part to ensure many women don’t have or use that psychological crutch of the weak to lean on in the first place by destroying that mentality of self-pity, THEN YOU CAN COMPLAIN TO ME…and I might listen.

I’m doing my part right now. And I’ve done my part by taking more than one piece of crap to task that seemed to think it makes them tough to beat a woman (or to call them all sorts of vulgarities in public places). As far as I’m concerned, it is the rest of society that refuses to hold people accountable for their behavior towards others, for the mentality they spread and allow to spread, and for not employing tough love to tell someone “if you don’t like the results, change what you’re doing.” Or punching some asshole right in his pie-hole and knocking a few teeth out as a reminder that his behavior is unacceptable. If that makes me a monster, I’m glad to own up to my fangs.

[NOTE: to those who intend to whine about violence and how punching an abusive jerk would be promoting more of the same, blah blah-blah blah... Give it a rest. Violence does solve certain issues, mostly surrounding the issues of personal safety. In fact, that's the best justification for it in the world. And quit being hypocritical: it it weren't for violence, you wouldn't have the benefit of enlightened thinking of Western civilization that gives you a right to vote, live in a free country and decry the only reason you aren't a slave in a far away land...or the right to take self-defense classes and carry a concealed weapon that would let you shoot anyone trying to beat you dead. But hey, really, tell me how waking someone up to the wrongness of their actions, even if a bit rudely (and it isn't like they don't mind rudeness themselves, beating women or children, right?) is somehow wrong.]

Back to the point, what if the guy turns into a real jerk later in the marriage? Did he break “the promise?”

I don’t know…does that mean if you get fat, take up collecting Oreo cookie package wrappers as a hobby, and let yourself generally go—and no longer appear worth all the money I’m spending to keep you in the lifestyle to which you became accustomed (and which I can no longer enjoy because you’re putting me in debt)—that I should say, “Sorry, but you broke the promise?”

People need to discuss expectations when going into a marriage. Then think, and plan and most importantly take responsibility. Believe me, I learned the importance of it the hard way myself.

I think we need Federal legislation that makes pre-marriage planning and prenuptial agreements mandatory. And if there are points of contention, only public defenders should be allowed/assigned to a divorce case. Taking the money out of ruining lives will bring some sense of sanity and humanity back into our society and make it more civil than it is now.

If nothing else, maybe the media will have to actually look for real news to write about and my blog posts won’t be so boring to write.

Here’s her second video on the subject where she whines about not being able to have her plays produced. Oh, don’t you just pity her? I think she believes she’s too good to wash dishes or something. Complaining about your expensive attorneys after stating “In New York, if you don’t have money, you’re nobody,” somehow doesn’t earn you any sympathy at all in my book.

[Update: Now there's a woman who was awarded $150,000 because her fiance called off the wedding. This is fucking idiocy at its worst. No wonder this country is going to hell.

She complained that "...her fiance's promise of marital bliss amounted to a binding contract," according to the article on WSBTV.com's website.

Really? I ought to be able to go back and sue my ex wife for breaking a contract then shouldn't I? What about the ex girlfriend's who said we were going to have blissful futures together?

I can't stand anything about our legal and justice systems in this country, nor about the kinds of people that push our country in the direction of this kind of stupidity. Everything is this insane "you fucking owe me" mentality.

What's next? I wouldn't be surprised if some asinine lawyer starts advising people spouses should be payed a salary to perform their functions. You know, I can already hear someone wondering at both ends of the spectrum about it---one about how life will suck because they will only be able to afford a $300 per month spouse (not much left after the bills are paid) or face a life of living single...and the one who is wondering about what they might be entitled to for $10,000 per month. I mean, surely threesomes and doing windows and cooking will at least be included for that, right?

$150,000 because you made a bad romantic choice? I ought to be a friggin millionaire by now.]

Police Use Taser On Blind Woman Barely Able To Walk

There needs to be some legislation removing tasers from the hands of law enforcement officers altogether. The latest? They used a taser on a blind woman who can barely get around. This is just ridiculous and and horrible incidents like this are happening on a weekly basis now across the nation.

Dayton, Ohio police say the woman was being combative and punched an officer after becoming combative after telling police her son wasn’t there. Their excuse doesn’t hold up when you consider the woman is blind.

Her version is that she was on the phone when she answered the door and they tried to force her to hang up. When she refused, they assaulted her and took her to the ground, then tased her—which some witnesses seem to agree to.

Police were looking for her son it appears.

Watching video of this woman, who is almost morbidly obese and blind and can barely get around, one cannot imagine how or why she would need to be thrown down and tased by police. Police say they followed procedure? What procedure is that? Tase anyone who questions their presence, reasons or the legality of what they’re doing? What ever happened to police protecting and serving?

It’s been replaced by arrest and abuse, that’s what.

And so this woman had to seek medical care and officials say her condition could be life threatening.

So much for being safe in your own home. Let’s see…we’ve had decorated Marine Sergeants, pregnant mothers, obese blind women, the mentally ill, and the elderly have all been victims of tasing. It seems police are so poorly trained that they can’t restrain people like they once did. Worse, it seems they don’t even have the common sense and training to open their eyes and ears and use people skills.

Kicking in doors and heads and juicing people with gadgets and running around in black BDUs and carrying black rifles seems to have low qualification levels and to be the preferred modus operandi of police forces. The average American has more to fear from police than they do from criminals in many places, and it shows signs of spreading even to rural communities as well. What a sad state our nation is sinking into.

Comparing Tactics Of WTO Negotiations To Nazis

The headlines all sound like everyone is so shocked that Brazilian Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim, made a comment which is true. He said that certain tactics employed by certain governments negotiating in the Doha trade round reminded him of the sort of things Nazis did. What’s the big deal?

It’s absolutely true.

Especially where he takes them to task for misrepresenting the talks and the ulterior motives many of the more industrial nations have in engaging in the talks. Contrary to what the headlines suggest and the official reaction of those retards who lead our country, I’m glad to hear someone in politics telling it like it is. Wish we had a few more of those sorts of politicians in our own country (and no, moonbats don’t tell it like it is) to help Ron Paul out.

“Goebbels used to say if you repeat a lie several times it becomes a truth,” Amorim said. And that is exactly one of the tools in the propaganda toolbox of all nations, including the United States’ own political toolbox. In fact, George Bush’s Presidency has pretty much been built upon that premise, as have the Clinton’s careers. WMD’s, blue dresses and airport snipers come to mind.

Are the WTO negotiators really that shocked at the accusation, or just the fact someone sees their tactics for what they are and called them on it? Our government and others are doing many things the Nazi regime once did, and have done the same or worse in the past. The recent revelation of the US military doing nothing and thereby condoning the machine-gunning of thousands of innocent civilian Koreans in the Korean War is merely one disgusting example of how our government hypocritically condones and allows atrocities and war crimes to occur…even AFTER using those same excuses to wage war on Germany.

What’s shocking isn’t that the Brazilian Foreign Minister made the accusations, but that more people don’t know enough about politics and history to realize it is true that our government has agencies and politicians and workers in it every bit as corrupt or morally decrepit as any that served in the Nazi regime, and that they use the same tactics, and have perpetrated or condoned more than a fair share of evils of their own. Large industrial nations’ governments are just more subtle in the way they persecute, kill, poison, imprison, destroy other nations, impose their will, take resources and enslave the masses.

Where it isn’t so subtle is the terrible acting by those serving in governments.