5/8/11
5/6/11
bin Laden Really is Dead
This is not a topic I intended to write about...
Somehow I feel I must write about this topic although it is really not where I want to go, especially lately, with this blog. I am officially burned out on economics, politics and social problems since they appear to be flat lined at best or getting worse. At this point I think my time, especially creatively, is better spent staying positive and motivating others to rise above and keep going no matter the odds.
However, I cannot ignore the issue of Osama bin Laden's death, the rise of conspiracy theories and the need for people to see pictures, as well as the emotions it is evoking in those directly affected by the events of 9-11-2001. I believe that Osama bin Laden is dead because I have more trust in the US military, their intelligence and capabilities and the CIA (a scary proposition to some I realize) than I do President Obama. I have every good reason to believe our military for reasons, not to be coy, that (even to prove my point) I cannot share. I believe they did carry out the mission, assassinated bin Laden and buried him at sea, in Davey Jone's Locker. The guy who tweeted it inadvertently, Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual), corroborates it to a believable degree and I don't think the US Government or anyone can make people like him up.
What the conspiracy stories and theories are really telling us is about the incompetence of President Obama and his staff, the incapacity to make a sound decision, stick to it, keep a story straight and be honest with the American people. The sheer inability of Obama and his "people" to be consistent indicates their ineptitude but we knew that already. There is no point in reviewing all of the inconsistencies throughout his entire term, he's proven that over and over again, so why should this be any different?
I wouldn't mind seeing blood and guts pictures of Osama bin Laden myself as awful as that sounds. If a reader knew how much 9-11 disrupted my life personally in a very big way then they would understand. Something better in my nature tells me otherwise though.
There is one thing I don't think a lot of the American and European people have thought about. We have been on the verge of a Third World War for almost a year now, if not since 9-11-2001. The killing of bin Laden is probably the equivalent of the shooting of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Worse, this war unlike any previous wars has no real geographic boundaries making it a brand new game of combat. It is a war between Islamic extremist terrorists in a host of countries, who as nation-states may not necessarily be at war with the western world. It is also occurring after the "Arab Spring" of uprisings against oppressive regimes that in many respects refuted his terrorist machinations and making for a difficult summer in the Arab and Persian Muslim world.
Obama probably ought to have released some clear evidence of his death but it would only make things worse now. Doing so would probably inflame some terrorists but by their nature they are already agitated fanatics. We already know from this raid that al Qaeda was planning to attack the US rail network. This event has also already broadened a war on three fronts, Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan and is likely to plunge the world into deeper global conflict. It's already begun; we're being shielded from it by our government and media, which is worse than releasing photos of a dead man. If there is a conspiracy, that is likely the real one.
My hope, as awful as this is to consider, is that we will not be solving our unemployment problem by working in munitions factories. We need to beware of "foreign entanglements" and engage in a policy of non-interventionism; otherwise we will truly find ourselves involved in a Third World War. More importantly, we must counter conspiracy theorists, despite the inept handling of bin Laden's assassination by the Obama administration. Now, more than ever we need to individually remain focused on maintaining ourselves in a healthy frame of mind, through self-reliance, mutual help and optimism, about our abilities to rise above any difficulties we are encountering. Our time is better spent improving our minds and well-being than focusing on spooks and conspiracies to overcome the barriers we are facing economically and socially in this country.
Somehow I feel I must write about this topic although it is really not where I want to go, especially lately, with this blog. I am officially burned out on economics, politics and social problems since they appear to be flat lined at best or getting worse. At this point I think my time, especially creatively, is better spent staying positive and motivating others to rise above and keep going no matter the odds.
However, I cannot ignore the issue of Osama bin Laden's death, the rise of conspiracy theories and the need for people to see pictures, as well as the emotions it is evoking in those directly affected by the events of 9-11-2001. I believe that Osama bin Laden is dead because I have more trust in the US military, their intelligence and capabilities and the CIA (a scary proposition to some I realize) than I do President Obama. I have every good reason to believe our military for reasons, not to be coy, that (even to prove my point) I cannot share. I believe they did carry out the mission, assassinated bin Laden and buried him at sea, in Davey Jone's Locker. The guy who tweeted it inadvertently, Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual), corroborates it to a believable degree and I don't think the US Government or anyone can make people like him up.
What the conspiracy stories and theories are really telling us is about the incompetence of President Obama and his staff, the incapacity to make a sound decision, stick to it, keep a story straight and be honest with the American people. The sheer inability of Obama and his "people" to be consistent indicates their ineptitude but we knew that already. There is no point in reviewing all of the inconsistencies throughout his entire term, he's proven that over and over again, so why should this be any different?
I wouldn't mind seeing blood and guts pictures of Osama bin Laden myself as awful as that sounds. If a reader knew how much 9-11 disrupted my life personally in a very big way then they would understand. Something better in my nature tells me otherwise though.
There is one thing I don't think a lot of the American and European people have thought about. We have been on the verge of a Third World War for almost a year now, if not since 9-11-2001. The killing of bin Laden is probably the equivalent of the shooting of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Worse, this war unlike any previous wars has no real geographic boundaries making it a brand new game of combat. It is a war between Islamic extremist terrorists in a host of countries, who as nation-states may not necessarily be at war with the western world. It is also occurring after the "Arab Spring" of uprisings against oppressive regimes that in many respects refuted his terrorist machinations and making for a difficult summer in the Arab and Persian Muslim world.
Obama probably ought to have released some clear evidence of his death but it would only make things worse now. Doing so would probably inflame some terrorists but by their nature they are already agitated fanatics. We already know from this raid that al Qaeda was planning to attack the US rail network. This event has also already broadened a war on three fronts, Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan and is likely to plunge the world into deeper global conflict. It's already begun; we're being shielded from it by our government and media, which is worse than releasing photos of a dead man. If there is a conspiracy, that is likely the real one.
My hope, as awful as this is to consider, is that we will not be solving our unemployment problem by working in munitions factories. We need to beware of "foreign entanglements" and engage in a policy of non-interventionism; otherwise we will truly find ourselves involved in a Third World War. More importantly, we must counter conspiracy theorists, despite the inept handling of bin Laden's assassination by the Obama administration. Now, more than ever we need to individually remain focused on maintaining ourselves in a healthy frame of mind, through self-reliance, mutual help and optimism, about our abilities to rise above any difficulties we are encountering. Our time is better spent improving our minds and well-being than focusing on spooks and conspiracies to overcome the barriers we are facing economically and socially in this country.
5/5/11
5/4/11
Government Intervention
Saved the banks and big business from Depression...
Causing a Depression among the average person.
We are now into the fourth year since the real estate bubble crashed in 2007 causing the Federal government to intervene and "save" the financial institutions that were "too big to fail." The result has been that the major banks and financial institutions and Wall Street are not feeling the effects of the damage they originally caused but the average person is. Unemployment is still too high, the inflation caused by the printing of money and government debt are causing hardship in the general population but not among those in the financial world. The end result is not that the taxpayer is going to be overly burdened but that our government is technically insolvent and could quite possibly go bankrupt.
The scandal of this is that so far they have gotten away with it. It is my belief that the bad news is this will lead to the decline of our currency and an inevitable market crash. The good news is it will cause us as a people to do something to rid ourselves of the political and business class that colluded to put us in this position. We have been hijacked by the very people we entrusted with our government by electing people not acting in our best interests. This specifically applies to the Federal government, meaning the Congress and the President of the United States. It is useless to argue whether it "was Bush's fault" or "Obama is killing our country." The fact is that this started decades ago, exacerbated by the second Clinton term, during both of Bush's terms and continued by Obama. One could argue to go back further but our current condition is the result of efforts since the '92-'93 recession in Clinton's term.
We are here now and we must restore ourselves.
Regardless of how we got here, we are here now and it is up to us, the American people as engaged citizens and voters, to resolve the situation. This will not be easy as people entrenched in power neither give up easily and have the resources to fight back in ways too evil to consider in this discussion. The real truth is we are more likely to suffer an economic collapse before we can reasonably and responsibly resolve the situation by political means. How this will play out cannot be said for certain but the people responsible for getting us here are not going to stop until there is economic fallout of epic proportions that will end in the repudiation of debt.
The bottom line is that most Americans are in stressful economic conditions while the perpetrators are not feeling the effects of what they've done since they solved their immediate problem by colluding to keep printing money until it is worthless. It will take one economic domino for the rest of it to fall and when it does they will feel the effects. That is when we need to be concerned with their reaction and intentions.
We still have a chance to restore our country to "we the people."
In the mean time the best that the average forgotten man can do is maintain the best they can and remain as optimistic as possible and above all be prepared to fight back. What fighting back means is an open question but I do not believe with our history, form of government and the US Constitution, that means the government will be allowed or even be able to turn on it's own people. What it does mean is that, "we the people," must take back our government and control over our elected officials. That may sound implausible, corny or absurd to some people but to many of us it does not. One thing Americans have inherent in their character is once a movement starts going in a direction it cannot be stopped.
I still believe that it is not beyond the abilities of the citizenry to restore our country to reasonable values and the core beliefs of what America is about and return to what was intended by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution. One thing is certain, divisiveness among the people will grow before resolution, but at a certain point the reasonable natural American character will rise above and return our country back to its core values. I don't believe this is false assumption, just as the country was in turmoil after the Civil War and during the turbulence of the nineteen-sixties, in the long term decent American people prevail and the challenge of differences and come together to overcome indecent leadership that has failed us.
Causing a Depression among the average person.
We are now into the fourth year since the real estate bubble crashed in 2007 causing the Federal government to intervene and "save" the financial institutions that were "too big to fail." The result has been that the major banks and financial institutions and Wall Street are not feeling the effects of the damage they originally caused but the average person is. Unemployment is still too high, the inflation caused by the printing of money and government debt are causing hardship in the general population but not among those in the financial world. The end result is not that the taxpayer is going to be overly burdened but that our government is technically insolvent and could quite possibly go bankrupt.
The scandal of this is that so far they have gotten away with it. It is my belief that the bad news is this will lead to the decline of our currency and an inevitable market crash. The good news is it will cause us as a people to do something to rid ourselves of the political and business class that colluded to put us in this position. We have been hijacked by the very people we entrusted with our government by electing people not acting in our best interests. This specifically applies to the Federal government, meaning the Congress and the President of the United States. It is useless to argue whether it "was Bush's fault" or "Obama is killing our country." The fact is that this started decades ago, exacerbated by the second Clinton term, during both of Bush's terms and continued by Obama. One could argue to go back further but our current condition is the result of efforts since the '92-'93 recession in Clinton's term.
We are here now and we must restore ourselves.
Regardless of how we got here, we are here now and it is up to us, the American people as engaged citizens and voters, to resolve the situation. This will not be easy as people entrenched in power neither give up easily and have the resources to fight back in ways too evil to consider in this discussion. The real truth is we are more likely to suffer an economic collapse before we can reasonably and responsibly resolve the situation by political means. How this will play out cannot be said for certain but the people responsible for getting us here are not going to stop until there is economic fallout of epic proportions that will end in the repudiation of debt.The bottom line is that most Americans are in stressful economic conditions while the perpetrators are not feeling the effects of what they've done since they solved their immediate problem by colluding to keep printing money until it is worthless. It will take one economic domino for the rest of it to fall and when it does they will feel the effects. That is when we need to be concerned with their reaction and intentions.
We still have a chance to restore our country to "we the people."
In the mean time the best that the average forgotten man can do is maintain the best they can and remain as optimistic as possible and above all be prepared to fight back. What fighting back means is an open question but I do not believe with our history, form of government and the US Constitution, that means the government will be allowed or even be able to turn on it's own people. What it does mean is that, "we the people," must take back our government and control over our elected officials. That may sound implausible, corny or absurd to some people but to many of us it does not. One thing Americans have inherent in their character is once a movement starts going in a direction it cannot be stopped.5/3/11
5/2/11
Anything Can Happen
And always does when you least expect it...
Osam bin Laden is dead.
Just as many Americans were pausing to wonder what has been going on in our country and how we were going to dig ourselves out of the economic hole we've created, something happens that changes the course of history. Ten long years after the events of September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden is dead, killed by us and we are certain since we have his body. It is the symbolic end of an era when the American psyche, consciously or otherwise, doubted itself and ability to capture a criminal who was the mastermind of a tragic event. His death cannot be underestimated. Carried along with our doubt was a lot of other baggage about the American Spirit and ability to rise above and be...well, American. The impact of this event should cause us to reassure ourselves that we are capable of anything we set our minds to.
His death will do little for the economic predicament we find ourselves in but should reinforce our sense of being able to resolve it. The real estate/mortgage problem, currency crisis, unemployment and low GDP and productivity among other issues aren't going away. What this should do is restore Americans faith in themselves to rise above and in the long term eventually overcome any obstacle. Over the next few days and weeks much discussion will go on and it is certain the political class will have a field day regarding Bush and Obama and who was able to capture and kill Osama bin Laden. The people who thrive on the fear of terrorism for a living will continue to hyper warn us, in a sense they're reminiscent of anti-communists when the Cold War was over. Terrorism is still a threat and we need to remain vigilant, but what we need to learn from this is that fear mongering is not the best weapon, that believing in our own power to defeat evil is. When all the noise dies down is when the truth will come out and the result will be that everyday Americans will have renewed faith in our ability to restore ourselves to the country we should be.
The oddity of the situation is that the attacks of 9-11 were intended to destroy the financial capital of the world and America's preeminence in the global economy. In some measure it did so indirectly, although it didn't collapse our markets immediately, in the long view in many ways it did. We should have taken more notice at the time of the message that was being sent, a message not necessarily from Islamic terrorists but a note to ourselves. We ignored it after the sentimental pop and country songs and tributes ran their course and we went headlong into consuming everything in sight. We pumped up our economy to feel good and did very little reflection on what had happened and how it could. The time for blame and recriminations about who did and who didn't do what is over, now is the time to revive the American Spirit and undertake the long hard road back to economic health.
Osam bin Laden is dead.
Just as many Americans were pausing to wonder what has been going on in our country and how we were going to dig ourselves out of the economic hole we've created, something happens that changes the course of history. Ten long years after the events of September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden is dead, killed by us and we are certain since we have his body. It is the symbolic end of an era when the American psyche, consciously or otherwise, doubted itself and ability to capture a criminal who was the mastermind of a tragic event. His death cannot be underestimated. Carried along with our doubt was a lot of other baggage about the American Spirit and ability to rise above and be...well, American. The impact of this event should cause us to reassure ourselves that we are capable of anything we set our minds to.
The oddity of the situation is that the attacks of 9-11 were intended to destroy the financial capital of the world and America's preeminence in the global economy. In some measure it did so indirectly, although it didn't collapse our markets immediately, in the long view in many ways it did. We should have taken more notice at the time of the message that was being sent, a message not necessarily from Islamic terrorists but a note to ourselves. We ignored it after the sentimental pop and country songs and tributes ran their course and we went headlong into consuming everything in sight. We pumped up our economy to feel good and did very little reflection on what had happened and how it could. The time for blame and recriminations about who did and who didn't do what is over, now is the time to revive the American Spirit and undertake the long hard road back to economic health.
5/1/11
4/30/11
Music Break: Lester Flatt
Foggy Mountain Breakdown...
Live TV Letterman
with Gary Scruggs (harmonica), Randy Scruggs, Vince Gill, Albert Lee (guitar), Marty Stuart (mandolin) Glen Duncan (fiddle), Jerry Douglas (dobro) Paul Shaffer (piano) and Steve Martin (banjo)
http://youtu.be/icMTVV5Lwaw
Live TV Letterman
with Gary Scruggs (harmonica), Randy Scruggs, Vince Gill, Albert Lee (guitar), Marty Stuart (mandolin) Glen Duncan (fiddle), Jerry Douglas (dobro) Paul Shaffer (piano) and Steve Martin (banjo)
http://youtu.be/icMTVV5Lwaw
4/29/11
We are headlong into a Double Dip
The Great Recession is far from over...
What is important is our attitude and determination regarding it.
A lot can be said and written about the various events and problems that the United States and the global economy have. I will leave that for a video blog I'm working on.
What I will write is that the vast majority of our government and elected leaders has done us great disservice and has not been acting in the best interests of the American people. We, the people, have allowed this to go on too long and it is up to us to change it. We need to figure a way to get rid of the entrenched political and bureaucratic class along with their friends in the financial world without too much clash amongst ourselves. It is inevitable that there will be discord among us as conditions deteriorate and we disagree about solutions. That is part and parcel of a Democratic Republic such as ours. We will loudly and acrimoniously disagree but we need to avoid violence, we have had one Civil War in this country and the current conditions do not require another. Rather, it requires a revolution of a different sort, one that can be carried out in the vein that the Founding Fathers clearly laid out for us.
One thing is certain in my mind. I have studied enough US history to know we have been here before in our long history, at times in worse conditions, also that in the past people have thought we would never return back to a much better place. I also know that the American people themselves will dig us out of this and not our government or any other forces but by our sheer will and skills. It is The American Way and that is still alive and well among us, even if it seems dormant for the moment. We will endure, survive and overcome but there is no short term fix for this. It is a journey that requires a minimum of 5-10 years of hard work and we can do it, even as spoiled as we've become after 30 years of prosperous times.
Now, more than ever, is the time to revive the American Spirit, remain positive and realistically optimistic and determined to overcome and defeat the obstacles before us. This country has done it before and can do it again. There will be times we will feel down, disheartened and discouraged and it is important during those times we continue putting one foot in front of the other and keep going. It is interesting to me that two opposing forces, unionists and the far left along with tea party sympathizers and the far right, are the ones stirring up debate and flexing their muscles. They are the ones that will eventually move all of us to remove the roadblocks causing the idiocy emanating primarily from the northeastern corridor stretching from Boston to Washington, DC. The government will once again be directed by the citizens of the country and not the other way around.
What is important is our attitude and determination regarding it.
A lot can be said and written about the various events and problems that the United States and the global economy have. I will leave that for a video blog I'm working on.
What I will write is that the vast majority of our government and elected leaders has done us great disservice and has not been acting in the best interests of the American people. We, the people, have allowed this to go on too long and it is up to us to change it. We need to figure a way to get rid of the entrenched political and bureaucratic class along with their friends in the financial world without too much clash amongst ourselves. It is inevitable that there will be discord among us as conditions deteriorate and we disagree about solutions. That is part and parcel of a Democratic Republic such as ours. We will loudly and acrimoniously disagree but we need to avoid violence, we have had one Civil War in this country and the current conditions do not require another. Rather, it requires a revolution of a different sort, one that can be carried out in the vein that the Founding Fathers clearly laid out for us.
One thing is certain in my mind. I have studied enough US history to know we have been here before in our long history, at times in worse conditions, also that in the past people have thought we would never return back to a much better place. I also know that the American people themselves will dig us out of this and not our government or any other forces but by our sheer will and skills. It is The American Way and that is still alive and well among us, even if it seems dormant for the moment. We will endure, survive and overcome but there is no short term fix for this. It is a journey that requires a minimum of 5-10 years of hard work and we can do it, even as spoiled as we've become after 30 years of prosperous times.Now, more than ever, is the time to revive the American Spirit, remain positive and realistically optimistic and determined to overcome and defeat the obstacles before us. This country has done it before and can do it again. There will be times we will feel down, disheartened and discouraged and it is important during those times we continue putting one foot in front of the other and keep going. It is interesting to me that two opposing forces, unionists and the far left along with tea party sympathizers and the far right, are the ones stirring up debate and flexing their muscles. They are the ones that will eventually move all of us to remove the roadblocks causing the idiocy emanating primarily from the northeastern corridor stretching from Boston to Washington, DC. The government will once again be directed by the citizens of the country and not the other way around.
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