"America Has One Political Party With Two Right Wings"- Gore Vidal

This is the best they can do, another Bush. Influential Republicans working to draft Jeb Bush into 2016 presidential race - The Washington Post
Not that it really matters. We think we have two parties, but what we have is the Uniparty, the Business Party, really, it's no party at all. I don't know if anyone has a memory, but the last Bush was a disaster.
 Which brings me to the matter of  "W"not being tried for war crimes. Because "we can't go back" we have a family that can keep reproducing candidates ad nauseum. Another election is coming and then another. Keep voting! Keep believing in democracy! As if an election was any guarantee of that.
When I read about Chris Christie or Jeb Bush or Hillary for chissakes, I want to laugh, except it's just so damn sad. Keep buying into the political system that likes to keep you believing that there is any difference between any of these people.
Because the America we used to know, has ceased to exist. Both parties have been fooling the people they pretend to represent. When you have almost half the population of this country living in poverty, you have to understand that these elected people are entertainment, which is what the 1% intended them to be. They don't care about the massive unemployment problem. They care about Wall Street. That's who you are really voting for.
The Washing ton Post and The New York Times are definitely interested in selling more papers and more lies. People are still being conditioned to believe, out of some misguided sense of loyalty towards partisan politics, to continue to vote. These empty suits, actors, whatever you want to call them, are playing charades, nothing more. The raping and pillaging of America continues, as long as we keep voting.
Massive poverty, massive unemployment and all we can do is poke around in Ukraine? Look at the mess that has been made in our own country, that still hasn't been taken care of. Which begs the question, when are we going to demand that we take care of our own country, our own people?
Foreign aid, Total economic and military assistance: $49.5 billion
$525.4 billion Department of Defense budget
Money flows out of our DOD and our military families are on food stamps? Military use of food stamps rises again - Feb. 17, 2014
How does that even make sense? Another thing I want to know is how are we investing in America?  All I can find? Foreigners have $25.2 trillion invested in the US, a record high – Quartz
How is it that poverty is widespread in this country and all we hear from Washington D.C. is that we are broke? Yeah, and Iraq had WMD's, right?
 Ask yourself why nothing is being done to help the American people?
The answer is clear. No one wants to. No elected official gives a damn about the perilous position the average American finds themselves in. 
Jeb Bush may run and Jeb Bush may win or Hillary or whoever, and it won't make a damn bit of difference they are all the same party, the same business, the same corporation.
It is no accident that people think their vote doesn't matter, they are right. 90 million Americans didn't vote in the last election. When there is no difference between parties, then what exactly does a vote even mean? It's just one party with two right wings. How is that gonna fly?
Gore Vidal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Freedom's Just Another Word.

Michelle Obama is in China, she has declared that internet freedom should be a human right. I am aware that she's talking about Turkey taking down twitter before their elections. However, she might have thought twice about this, since there is an apparatus in place following us all over the internet and collecting data. I'm not sure where this moral standing is coming from, lecturing others on freedom. Access to the internet should be a human right, also, you will be followed wherever you go.........universal access=universal snooping. 
she might want to have a word with her husband about this matter
I'm hoping now we will leave Edward Snowdon alone, since he's just trying to keep the internet free.
Here in the land of the free, we actually come in at 32, according to Reporters Without Borders when it comes to freedom of the press. Michelle Obama's trip to China is supposed to be "nonpolitical" and had no plans to give any interviews while she's in China, no members of the press were invited. It looks like her "nonpolitical" trip, somehow became political.
Thinking about human rights, access to food, water and shelter, should be basic human rights. "In 2010, 17.2 million households were food insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United States. Hunger in America: 2013 United States Hunger and Poverty Facts
I know Mrs. Obama is very concerned about childhood obesity, along with internet freedom, but we have a poverty problem in this country. I doubt people who are struggling to put food on the table are thinking about their access to the internet.
If Michelle Obama really thought access to the internet should be a human right, maybe it shouldn't have been comodified. Time Warner, one of the biggest internet access providers, was also one of the biggest donors to President Obama's campaign. Top Contributors to Barack Obama | OpenSecrets.
I think I read something about some kind of merger, oh yeah, here it is. Why Comcast—Time Warner Cable Should Be Blocked -- Daily Intelligencer  More gilded age baronism, so we can be "free" to choose a monopoly for our internet access.

                                                Kris is right, freedom's just another word.

Pot O' Blarney!

Here's the thing about the missing Malaysian jet, if Edward Snowden was on it, they would know where it is. Now they aren't even looking for the plane anymore, They are looking for a motive. Police hunt for motive as search for Malaysian jet spans hemispheres | Reuters
In an age where satellites and spying are part of everyday life, it seems strange that Diane Feinstein suddenly had "grave concerns" about the CIA's activities. Her husbands activities are way more interesting, since he makes millions from government contracts his wife is able to parlay for him.
 Richard C. Blum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 It's strange to me in this age of technology and data mining that planes and information from the CIA can just go "missing" Kinda  like 18 minutes of blank tape. Feinstein has defended the CIA's and NSA's activities for years and now she's got a problem with them? She's a little late to this party. Everything about this "controversy" smells bad. She suddenly wants people to think she gives a damn about abuse of power....right. Because she's part of the problem. When I hear this lip service to "oversight of American spy agencies" it just doesn't make any sense. I don't think for one minute she's thinking of the American people. Because guess what Diane, "we can't go back," according to the President. The people responsible for torture and bankers that caused an economic crises as severe as the great depression are not something we are supposed to look at. Nope. You know who's responsible? Edward Snowden and Julian Assange! Those troublemakers are causing all the problems.
This is a bunch of blarney and  there is nothing that's going to be done about this situation. These agencies and the money flowing to contractors and corporations won't be stopped. That's what this is really about. Follow the money, because the pot of gold isn't just for St. Patrick's day, it's every day if you or your lobby or corporation can benefit. It sure as hell won't be the American people.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all!

"Corporate State"

I don't know anyone who likes daylight savings time. What are we really saving? No one likes it no one wants it, but we are stuck with it, why? Because we are decreasing energy consumption. "research about how DST currently affects energy use is limited or contradictory." Daylight saving time - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Guess who profits from DST? "Because so much extra gas is sold during Daylight Saving Time, the lobby representing convenience stores—places that sell tons of gas—are among the biggest backers of keeping the time change intact" So really, we don't know if we are saving anything, but we just keep going along with it. Of course, corporations profit from DST.
This week there was controversy about the SAT. It's getting an overhaul. I've got news for the SAT. I never took it. My PSAT scores were pathetic. Contrary to popular belief, that you HAVE to take the SAT's, well, no you don't. I made Deans list in college, I excelled and I would never have passed that test. That test is a marketing tool and a corporate money maker. It's not indicative of a student's success in college. It's bullshit. But just like with Daylight Savings Time, we are still going to have the SAT's, because testing is an INDUSTRY.
 We just keep going along with it.
Another thing we just keep going along with, is our pathetic healthcare system. William Rivers Pitt | Worse Than the Mob: The Insurance Industry Is Organized Crime
People go broke trying to stay alive. We profit from sick people. The health insurance companies goal is to deny whatever you need to be healthy. But we continue to go along with a for profit system, that patients and doctors fight with daily. Hours are spent trying to navigate a system that is complicated and burdensome. I have talked to many people who resist a single payer system, because it's SOCIALISM, which is almost the same as COMMUNISM. Because we are still fighting the Cold War in peoples minds.
Guess what? The jobs report came out again. Good news! 175,000 jobs were added! Businesses are hiring! Next thing you know, the jobs report will get revised. Shadow statistics about unemployment may be more reliable. Alternate Unemployment Charts Alternate sources tell us that unemployment is closer to 20%.
This much unemployment keeps wages depressed, while corporate profits are at record highs.
Corporations and the government have merged, but people still have not woken up to this. They know something's wrong, but they still go to Walmart, everyone knows the people who work there are barely surviving. No one thinks the people who own Walmart are having the same problems. No one really cares that the people who work at Walmart are the working poor, probably because the people who shop at Walmart are the working poor and we have a philosophy in this country that the poor deserve their fate.

When the economic system and the political system merge, we have fascism. Common sense would tell you that fascism is worse than socialism or communism. Most people still think we are living in a democracy, that their vote "counts." (for those who still vote) but the government is being run for millionaires. At what point are people going to wake up and figure out that like Daylight Savings Time, we lose an hour and ordinary people in this country have been losing for years and I'm not talking about just time. When is enough going to be enough?  When everything we do from setting our clocks, to testing our children, being sick or being well is dominated by corporate - government profit, we are no longer free. We have a lot more to be afraid of than socialism or communism.
Further reading,  Hedges: Is America Yearning for Fascism? | Alternet

Happy Ending

I spend my spare time googling things like Petrodollars. Because, I'm nosy and because Ukraine has gas shale fields and Chevron has invested in them big time. So when I see the kind of power struggles going on in a place like Ukraine, I wonder how much resources, especially energy resources have to do with it, or how that can be exploited. I seriously doubt any oil is going to trickle down all over the little people in Ukraine.
While I'm googling, I'm wondering why Kerry's galavanting around Russia? Where's Merkle in this mess?
I hope Kerry isn't thinking of practicing his massage skills. Like Bush did, in an embarrassing display.

There's nothing like remembering the good old days. Before the economy melted down and revolution spread worldwide. I am thinking Merkle is going to be key in any discussions since Germany gets some of their natural gas from Russia. I think we should keep our eyes on Merkle. I just hope Kerry keeps his hands off.

Beware The Ides Of March

Here we go with the mixed messages. It kills me how we are so willing to spend money in other countries,

interfering and spreading our special brand of "democracy" because we have the "best" democracy, right?
U.S. lawmakers writing aid package for new Ukraine government | Reuters
 Obama's dilemma: boosting domestic initiatives without adding to deficit | Reuters
I become confused when I read these two headlines. Somehow we have money to help Ukraine, but no money to help ourselves. How is this possible? Social Security is broke and we can't have Head Start for American children, but we need to get in a pissing contest with Russia, AGAIN.
We can't even take care of our own business or people in OUR country, but we are willing to write a check for just about anyone but Americans. It's like a dysfunctional relationship where a person is telling you one thing but the actions don't match words.
I kind of feel like my country is cheating on me.
Here's the thing, Ukraine rebelled against a corrupt government. Why would they even want anything to do with us? We act like we don't have any corruption here, no siree! I am guessing in exchange for any money, we will want to establish some kind of military apparatus there so we can get into another war. After all, our economy has not improved much and there are still millions of people unemployed.
Check out the D.O.D. The Department Of Denial
Sources: DoD 5-year spending plan $115 billion over budget caps, ignores sequestration | Military Times | militarytimes.com
Just ignore it and it will go away. So we have Sequestration but apparently it doesn't matter.
"the budget will include a separate $26 billion “Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative.” The additional $26 billion would go toward readiness,"
What the hell is "readiness"? Opportunity for what exactly? Probably an opportunity to exploit some kind of crises like, say, in Ukraine, where contractors and consultants and all kinds of corporations can run rampant, in a for-profit Ponzi scheme, because Russia can't "win", oh, hell no.
I am all for Ukraine and their revolution. That doesn't mean that we have to go poking a bees nest with a stick. If Ukraine was smart they would want nothing to do with any American style intervention after the messes we made in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. These are not good examples of  American military force. We no longer have any credibility after our disastrous military mistakes. Sometimes I wonder if Putin just laughs at us? There is no need to get into another conflict, however, there is every need to start taking care of our own country and it's citizens. Oh, wait, the deficit!
We can't go around saying that we don't have money for food stamps but hey, lets give away, $54.5 billion* in foreign aid. That's exactly what our government does. Somehow we're willing to go poking our nose into everyone's business, while we don't even take care of our own. Is anyone naive enough to think the CIA and the NSA haven't been meddling with Ukraine for YEARS? Ukraine: Orange Revolution 2.0? | Global Research
We've already been there, done that regarding Ukraine. What I want to know is while everyone's looking at Ukraine's crises, what the hell is going on here right under our nose? 
 United States foreign aid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia