High Weirdness Drifter

The week is coming to a close, the weather is cooling off a bit and even though I haven’t had a lot of free time to make blog entries I certainly feel more energetic. I’m going to need that energy as I am in the process of moving to a new apartment in a few weeks. To all the visitors and feed subscribers out there, you can expect new postings but bear with me until early to mid-November. I hate the process of moving.

The recent upswing in Ron Paul mania has me think a lot more about the Republican and Democratic bathing beauties that have been trotted out for us to vote for. Now that we have had many debates and have been able to see these waterheads in action for a while there is a much better picture to look at with each candidate. I’m planning on writing a series of posts which will look at each candidate with an eye toward the topics that I blog about. To be honest, the cutting sarcasm and humor I often use is going to be unavoidable. Fair warning to all on this but at the least I can assure you that there will be some humor involved.

Let’s take a look at the news of late and see what is being overlooked by the mainstream press and what is odd, ominous and just plain goofy:

Al Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions in the field of global warming awareness and education. I guess the selection committee overlooked my idea on how to combat global warming – leave the door to your refrigerator open. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/world/13nobel.html?ref=us

Speaking of the environment, your illustrious blogger may need to ask for donations of water by time 2008 rolls around. Lake Lanier, which supplies the water for the metropolitan Atlanta area, is 3 months away from going dry. Overdevelopment, piss-poor water management and a 100 year drought has transformed us from a “City among the trees” to a city drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds. I’d do a rain dance but the last time I danced in public folks thought I was having an epileptic seizure. http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2007/10/10/wateruse_1011.html

If it weren’t bad enough that only a handful of Americans support the crap happening in Washington, now the country of Turkey is pissed off at Congress too. They’ve recalled their ambassador and they are threatening to cut logistical support to our bases in Iraq and Afghanistan because of a vote to declare the Armenian Massacre as genocide. It’s a sad state of affairs when even a legitimate issue is cause for a pile on of this proportion. I haven’t been able to find a news article that explains what prompted this timely resolution. Afterall, it only happened nearly a century ago. Why now? http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2007/10/12/turkey_swift_to_admonish_us_over_vote

The CIA is ticked off at it’s own Inspector General for blowing the whistle on numerous fuckups and nightmare activities. What has the CIA decided to do about it? Investigate him. Yes, that’s right, folks. When you have a shitload of power and don’t like fair criticism you don’t have to change your ways when your criminal and negligent behavior is exposed. All you have to do is sic the dogs on the critic. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cia12oct12,1,318772.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&track=crosspromo

If your kids are sick and you are a middle-class worker fighting like hell to not fall into a financial cesspool, the President thinks you should go fuck yourself if you think you are going to get a lifeline thrown to you. The waterheaded water carriers of the Sociopath in Chief think it’s a case of basic economics, common sense and a question of people thinking they have a “birthright to unlimited benefits”
http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18902955&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478566&rfi=6

Bush is also pitching a hissy fit over the safeguards that have been added to legislation that covers the programs that spy on American citizens. Once Bush throws himself on the floor, begins screaming at the top of his lungs, kicking and telling Congress that he hates them, they will cave in and give the baby his bottle. Yes, the Constitution is important but with all the wailing and embarrassment they will give in and give him what he wants. I guess we are living in a nanny state. http://www.rttnews.com/sp/todaystop.asp?date=10/11/2007&item=24&vid=0

What sort of black programs are the spy masters using to create robotic spy insects? Get those fly swatters at the ready folks! http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/131214

Marion Jones has boo-hoo’d her way into our hearts for admitting that she is a lying, cheating, convicted felon. Like Don King always says, only in America. One down, many more to go. http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20071011/cleisure/cleisure1.html

Last but not least…I have been on a serious reggae kick of late. It’s a genre that has held a special place in my heart since my early teenage years when I thought The Clash was the end all, be all of rock and roll. Those cats got me into it and it was so hard for me to find and buy reggae back then. This was pre-Internet and the little mountain town I was raised in had no record stores. The closest record store, in fact, was 30 miles away. I had to rely on mail order and buying stuff sight unseen, artist unheard of.

Back then I would find out who influenced who and tried to buy records from artists who’s name constantly cropped up in this interview or that article or those reviews. Sometimes I ordered stuff that I instantly hated, sometimes I found gems that made my innocent little eyes grow large with glee within two measures of the first cut. I often look back at my teenage years and the hoops I jumped through to get new and good music and I feel nostalgic and amazed at the whole process. The thrill of the hunt is gone with downloads and the act of sitting down to listen to music is a ritual that few even know of, let alone those who still do it. Times change and this is an area where I have stayed isolated and within my routine.

So, for your enjoyment and my own selfish pleasure, here is the marvelous, incomperable, unstopable, untopable and roots deeper than your own soul; Prince Buster live at Club Sombrero in 1962!

Oil, food, money and the dope addled brains of the GOP.

To make 1 gallon of gasoline you need to start with 2.15 gallons of crude oil.

Under optimal conditions it takes approximately 1.24 gallons of fuel to perform a single farming task on 1 acre of land.

You can make 230 gallons of ethanol per acre of corn.

Most bio-diesel made in the United States comes from soybeans, which yields only 70.13 gallons per acre.

The average steer produces 568 lb of beef.

To produce 1 lb of beef it requires between 2.6 lb to 16 lb (depending on data source) of feed.

A 1200 lb steer, from which 568 lb of beef is harvested, requires between 13.83 and 284 (depending on data source) gallons of oil.

Soybeans cost $10 per bushel, up from $7 per bushel in January of this year.

Corn costs $3.50 per bushel, up from $2.00 per bushel two years ago.

A bushel of wheat now costs $9.50, up from $5.00 per bushel in January.

A recent study in Montana shows that for a single adult the minimum living wage needed without asking for public assistance is $10.32 an hour, $20.97 for a single adult with two children. 40% of all job openings in the state pay less than $10.32 per hour. The study also found that the state’s median wage has risen by 9.1% since 2002 but the cost of health care has risen by 44% and the overall cost of living has shot up 19.7%.

Of the 56 counties in Montana, 46 have an average population of 6 or fewer people per square mile. In Chicago the population density is 12,000 people per square mile, average. In 2006, the City Council of Chicago attempted to enact a Living Wage Law, which would have required all employers to provide its employees with pay that would at least equal the minimum living wage for the city.

According to the US Census Bureau, in 2006 earnings dropped 1% and for the third straight year earnings lagged behind inflation. The number of uninsured Americans also increased in 2006 by a total of 2.2 million.

In yesterday’s GOP debate, candidate Fred Thompson said things look “rosy” when asked to describe the economic state of affairs in America today and "We have the second-highest corporate tax penalty in the world. We need to do better than that.” Rudy Guiliani said, "The possibilities for America in this global economy are endless”. Mitt Romney said, "It's inexcusable that Michigan is undergoing a one-state recession, that the rest of the country is growing”.

National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found in 2001 that more than 4.6 million Americans--a much higher number of individuals in need of professional help than had previously been thought--did not recognize their problem and were “in denial”.

The question is—will someone do an intervention for the Republican candidates about the economy and it’s effects on 90% of the American public?

AT&T -- Ruler of airwaves. Seriously, they now own it all.

The fat cats keep getting fatter, the mega-corporations keep expanding and choices for the consumer continue to dwindle. AT&T, the behemoth that keeps on gobbling up all it sees with no interference from government agencies, has just announced a deal they have worked out with Aloha Partners that will give them access to a massive block of wireless spectrum. http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_1626635.html The move will position AT&T in a way that they will now be the provider of 700Mhz for 196 million people. The deal is subject to regulatory approval but let’s face the facts, the feds are going to give AT&T anything they want.

The Chairman of the FCC, Keith Martin, has officially announced that they will not investigate AT&T on grounds that they illegally allowed the NSA to spy on Americans. The reasoning behind this is the stereotypical “National security” bullshit and lies. Of course the Telco spy scandal is a massive and multi-layered story that is being well covered by some media sources but woefully understated by the major media outlets. The old “National Security” line has been abused for a long time by the current sociopaths in DC but reports from yesterday cleared the air even more on this subject.

Remember the recent Osama Bin Laden video? The one where an obvious imposter was employed? Well, it appears that the White House once again threw intelligence national security down the toilet by releasing the video to Fox News long before giving copies to the law enforcement and intelligence agencies and in the process destroyed the network access capabilities of SITE Intelligence Group. How many fools are left to believe this administration when they have been caught so many times in lies?

This of course harkens back to the Plame affair, The Military Commissions Act of 2006, Patriot Acts I and II, the suspension of Posse Comitatus with the John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007…all just a long line of enabling this administration with the keys to the nation. To return to AT&T, of course the federal agencies that oversee the Telco’s like AT&T will allow them to do whatever they wish. They are letting the NSA peer into the raw voice and data streams, unfettered. The return for this ultra risky maneuver is free run of the candy store.

What AT&T has risked is their very lifeblood. In sane times, with sane leaders and a sane judiciary; AT&T would be liable for being a part of the largest breach of privacy and un-Constitutional behavior known to the American public. Since AT&T, and the companies they have purchased since 2001, maintain almost complete control over the voice and data networks every American uses, their liability would be to virtually every American man, woman and child who has spoken on the phone, emailed or surfed the web since 2001.

The civil suits are queued up and the Telco’s are pushing the halls of Congress with a passion to get a free pass, a legal written in law pass, for their digressions against the American public and their very own customers. Yet this level of power isn’t enough. They want more power, more bandwidth and more money. The government is all too happy to comply with their desires and allow them to expand, unchecked, as long as they keep that stream open for them.
Adding to this power grab are two recent issues of censorship by AT&T. The first was a blatant editing of a live concert streamed by AT&T of the band Pearl Jam. At one point in the performance lyrics critical of President Bush were cut out. When the issue was publicly spoken about and word began to spread, AT&T, of course, blamed a contractor for censoring on content. However, a recent change to the Terms of Service that customers of AT&T must follow states that they can completely sever your communications links if at any time you criticize AT&T. In other words, this is the fallout of the Pearl Jam censorship case. AT&T has decided to kill the messenger and the message.

Every day, at every step of the way, we are being watched, analyzed and categorized by our government. They took Nineteen Eighty-Four and looked at it as a wet dream, a template, for the future. Since most of us are familiar with the story even if not all of us have read the novel, can we break their plans and refuse to be their Winston Smith?

Don't be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Jesus Party!

Coming soon to a ballot in your district, The Jesus Party. I can easily see this happening following the comments by James “The Dachshund Beater (http://www.nospank.net/dugan.htm) Dobson; that he will back a third party candidate if the Republican Party doesn’t pick someone who is, “conservative enough.” Talk about balls.

I think it’s time for the radical religious freaks to form their own political party, the Jesus Party. Where free spirits and those who live life without lies or shame are called heathens and are cursed. It’s time to put the extremists in a position where every American can see just how fucked in the head some of our worst fellow citizens are. No reason to pussyfoot around and pretend to be a “compassionate conservative”, just show the world how full of hate and contempt you really are. The rest of us can see what those folks are really all about and make some serious choices.

The current crop of 4th tier bathing beauties who are running for President are too afraid of telling hard truths and making hard choices. The Congress is locked in it’s own paralysis of doing the right things for fear of being branded as one thing or another. They are afraid of the consequences. The consequences being the loss of their cushy job in DC and that fear is something that shouldn’t be a part of the job because we all know those lobbyist positions are lined up after a career in politics. We need men and women to make the hard choices and say the things that have to be said to get us on the right track. Instead they’ll talk the talk that they believe is the talk we want to hear.

There was a time, even in the small north Georgia town I grew up in, that getting a bit too full of the Holy Spirit would bring about the response of the common sense most of us have. There was a time that we did not suffer fools gladly and it was encouraged to call things exactly as they appear to be. The fundamentalists had a side role in local politics and social issues, the role of the lunatic fringe. This was the case up until the early and mid 80’s. What precipitated this change from sanity to all-out goofiness? The fear of satanic forces.

Starting with the whole back masking phenomenon in the early 80’s I saw the attitudes in my small town change. First it was the satanic influences upon the young with rock music. Then they added the “epidemic” of drugs and they brought it full circle in the early 90’s with fear of the Clintons and the supposed hidden agenda of one-world secularism. As if the whole scene weren’t enough, my little hometown newspaper began operating a program where they asked the local citizens to rat each other out over who was selling drugs. Honest to God, they instilled fear into the citizens and then asked readers to send in their reports of suspicious activity to the newspaper, which would be forwarded to the local law enforcement authorities. The editor of the paper at that time was a former aid to radical right wing Congressman, Larry McDonald.

How did they frighten and change the minds of these simple country folks who had always maintained country smarts? Fear of everything that sits on the other side of the mountain and fear of it invading and taking over their small town, that’s how they did it. In a town like I came from, there are two mountains that separated us from the rest of the world. Nothing good or positive happened on the other side of those two mountains. To add to it, one mountain was where the drug dealers had their crops and the other housed devil worshipers. I am serious.

Lookout Mountain was where, according to rumor, pot growers had clandestine fields of dope, guarded by men with hunting rifles and woe to anyone who happened upon them. The other mountain was where two Satanists lived in their estate named Corpsewood (http://theconspiratorsnest.blogspot.com/2007/04/from-archives-look-back-at-corpsewood.html) . The mountains were more than just geological boundaries for the community; they became symbolic of barriers to keep the rest of the world at bay.

This is was a microcosm of the path we as a nation have gone down in the past 6 years. Fear of anything beyond the boundaries of our coastal areas and fear of anything beyond the borders that separated the countries we are sandwiched between. Everything on the other side is evil and satanic and we are constantly being infiltrated by demonic forces that threaten us.

In many ways, the field of Conspiracy Theory studies is similar to this phenomenon. We, the CT enthusiasts, are constantly trying to warn everyone else of the dangers we see. Dangers being guided by unseen forces, forces of evil. The problem with both CT studies and extremists religious causes is that far too often we both go into extremely radical territory. I myself understand that I have ideas that stray into the fantastic. However, there is a difference between the two groups. The radicalized religious want to alter the way we all live. They wish to enforce their beliefs upon all of us. The conspiracy theorists only want to broaden their, and your, horizons and expose the false idols around us.

It is easy to see the far religious right wishing to enslave all of us while the conspiracy theorists are trying to free us by exposing the plots. What is most surprising to me in this process is how many conspiracy theorists wind up like Texe Marrs and become caught in anti-Semitism and I really believe there is a trigger point which starts this conversion. Once they head down the “Jewish conspiracy” path there is rarely an outcome other than far right-wing political extremism.

So let’s all cheer for the formation of the Jesus Party. Perception and reality, ideaology and truth rarely meet in the center. Sooner or later the far right-wing of this country will need to show their true colors, on full display for all to see. After all, if you are going to be a full blown fascist you might as well wear the t-shirt that shows you were there for the party.

Forget the Wall Street Journal, drive around town to understand what the economy is like.

One of my favorite Saturday activities is to hit the yard sales and thrift stores. Sometimes I score some real finds in the areas that I collect and to sell on eBay. The real scores aren’t frequent but they do occur. This year I can claim among my finds; some 1st pressing Kinks LPs in astounding condition, the obligatory stash of great books and a Heywood-Wakefield end table. There is a side benefit to hitting these spots each weekend and that is a chance to gauge the market and financial situation among my fellow Atlantans.

Last summer I began seeing a noticeable rise in for sale and house for rent signs on my typical routes. As this summer has come to a close I have seen a serious drop in those signs along the road but the homes are not being sold. They sit empty, the yards beginning to look un-kept and messy. Next will come random vandalism as the homes sit, unsold and unused. The vandalism will ruin the homes and bring down the values of the surrounding houses even more.

The thrift stores are seeing more and more shoppers. I’ve noticed this as the summer has progressed. I’ve been used to a mix of three distinct groups of people at these stores over the years. One, the group I am a part of, is the dealers who sell on eBay or have booths at antique malls. Two is the group of folks who just love to find bargains and the thrill of looking for a serious “find” at the stores. The last group is the folks who really do benefit from buying clothes and household items at thrift stores. I think the latest upswing in shoppers at the thrift stores is comprised of folks who have suddenly felt the pinch of the economic downturn. I see more new cars parked in front of the store and more folks who are dressed like the stereotypical suburbanite.

Even at the farmer’s market I am seeing more folks who drive cars and are dressed differently than the people I normally see. Among the chores I had to do this weekend was a trip to get some groceries, so off I went to the International Farmer’s Market in Chamblee. Normally I see an interesting mix of folks at this market, this time I saw more middle class, suburban white folks than I am used to seeing there. They were all over the fresh produce and fruit aisles and to be honest I am actually very happy to see this development. These stores offer the best buys and the produce really is tasty like fresh from a backyard garden. I’m all for supporting independent stores and giving the middle finger to the big chain stores.

People are frugal for only one of two reasons, they want to or they have to. I am trying to live a more frugal lifestyle and I’ve straddled the fence between living more along my means and higher than I should have for years. I seem to go in cycles where I wise in managing my money and blowing it. Blowing it has always led me to feeling depressed after a while. When I reach the cusp of realizing what I am doing I have been able to back down and live a more reasonable lifestyle but by then the damage has already been done. On comes the depression.

I think there is a sudden increase in people who now have to live a more frugal lifestyle and I don’t think they are too happy either. Imagine losing your home and winding up back in an apartment? Imagine going from buying the latest plasma widescreen TV to hitting church and charity thrift stores looking to buy a used washer and dryer? I see those folks shopping at these places, their faces are new, their clothes are new and they drive cars more expensive than my Jeep. They don’t look very happy to be shopping at St. Vinnie’s.

We are being given warning signs by even the mainstream press that the economic downturn is just going to get worse in the upcoming months. I’m not an economist but even I can sense and see things that lead me to believe that we are only seeing the early stages of things getting hard in this country. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing more unhappy folks at the thrift stores. I’ll be there looking for good deals and things I know I can sell on eBay. I’m afraid they will be there not out of choice but out of necessity and that bothers me a lot. To all of the new shoppers at the thrift stores who aren’t happy with this new twist in life all I can tell you is buck it up, it could always be worse and stay out of the record bins. I’m the cat who buys the vintage vinyl for his collection.

Finish the week with Half Pint

Some weeks make my Mormon cash cow (Franklin Covey planning system) look like the journal of the busiest man on earth. Tasks get completed on time, I'm able to pull jobs forward and complete them ahead of schedule and my monthly task list shrinks almost overnight. I feel happy, productive and on the ball.

Some weeks turn out like the one we are finishing.

There is only one thing you can do in these circumstances.

Drop the dub.

Half Pint - Cost Of Living

Mel Sembler, The CIA, Mind Control and Scientology. What a lovely tea party that makes.

Here is an odd and enlightening set of timelines for a group of notable events. Do the folks of DeKalb county really want someone with such a notorious past, with such unseemly connections, to have such a major impact on the county's future as Mel Sembler might have if the Sembler Company's plans go ahead? Talk about a wild set of parallel connections.

1832 – Skull and Bones is founded at Yale University.

1875 – Beginning in San Francisco, opium trafficking by Chinese immigrants is outlawed in the United States.

1880 – The US and China sign an agreement that prohibits the shipment of opium between both countries.

1914 – The Harrison Narcotic Act is passed into law requiring sellers of opiates to become licensed.

1917 – Prescott Bush tapped for Skull and Bones.

1937 – The Marijuana Tax Act is signed into law.

1948 – George H.W. Bush tapped for Skull and Bones.

1950 – The CIA begins the MKUltra program.

1953 – The Church of Scientology is founded. Founder L. Ron Hubbard forms special Celebrity Centers to cater to and recruit celebrities, musicians, artists, politicians and various professional positions.

1953 – Zapata Oil is founded.

1955 – The Peoples Temple is founded by Reverend Jim Jones in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1958 – Charles Dederich founds Synanon in Santa Monica California. Synanon was created to provide drug addicts with a recovery program. It eventually turns into a cult that used violence and “tough love” against its members/patients.

1961 The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty banning the illicit manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs, is adopted.

1964 – The CIA renames MKUltra to MKSearch.

Mid 60’s through mid 80’s – Future President George W. Bush is reported to have suffered substance abuse problems (alcohol and drugs).

1966 – The Church of Scientology creates NARCONON, a drug rehabilitation program that is based on the writings of Hubbard and was tested on drug abusers in the Arizona State Prison system.

1967 – The Peoples Temple moves from Indianapolis to Redwood Valley, California.

1968 – George W. Bush tapped for Skull and Bones.

Late 60’s and early 70’s – Youth offenders on drug charges are routinely sent to Synanon by court order. Celebrities, musicians and various professionals are recruited and openly invited to Synanon properties and events.

1969 – The State of New Jersey releases a study that shows only 10% to 15% of Synanon’s participants actually end their addictions.

1970 – The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 is signed into law.

Early 70’s – The US Government funds a program known as “The Seed” that follows the tactics and example of Synanon, located in Florida.

Early 70’s – The Peoples Temple makes attempts at becoming mainstream by creating a state licensed facility for developmentally disabled persons, community outreach programs, drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs and Jones’ involvement as a community social and political leader in San Francisco.

1971 – President Richard Nixon coins the phrase, “War on Drugs”

1972 – George H. W. Bush is named Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

1973 – CIA Director Richard Helms orders all MKUltra files destroyed. The US Government claims that the program has ended.

1973 – The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is created as a law enforcement agency within the Justice Department as a result of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The position of “Drug Czar” is created by President Richard Nixon.

1974 - Filmmaker Robert Altman uses members of Synanon as extras for the making of his film California Split.

1974 – Investigations begin into the inner-workings of Synanon. Cult activities begin to appear at around this time. Women are forced to shave their heads, men were given forced vasectomies and there is a communal lifestyle with multiple compounds in possession of the organization.

1974 – Sen. Sam Ervin presents a report to Congress titled, “Individual Rights and the Federal Role in Behavior Modification”. Among the findings were that programs like The Seed, “begin by subjecting the individual to isolation and humiliation in a conscious effort to break down his psychological defenses.” and such programs are “similar to the highly refined brainwashing techniques employed by the North Koreans in the early 1950’s.” Funding for The Seed is soon cut off.

1975 – Synanon files to revise its tax status, attempting to make itself a church, The Church of Synanon.

1976 – The Church of Scientology locates its “Worldwide spiritual headquarters” in Clearwater Florida. The Church of Scientology has since become a major landowner in the Clearwater area.

1976 – Mel Sembler and Joseph Zappala found a program known as Straight Incorporated, using The Seed as it’s guide and former Seed employees to staff the new company. Funding for the program comes from the same federal agency that funded The Seed. Sembler bases his operations out of Clearwater Florida, also the new home of The Church of Scientology.

1976 – George H.W. Bush becomes the Director of the CIA.

1978 – First reports surface of child abuse at Synanon facilities and the money flow to its founder is exposed. Synanon begins a campaign of threats and physical attacks on outspoken former members and whistle blowers as well as filing lawsuits against media outlets that expose the activities of the organization.

1978 – US Congressman Leo Ryan is among the more than 900 victims of the Jonestown Massacre. Ryan’s assassination at the order of Jim Jones precipitates the ordered mass suicide of the congregation.

1978 – George W. Bush unsuccessfully runs for Congress, campaign managed by brother Neil Bush, who lives in Lubbock, Texas. At the time of this political campaign, John Hinckley Jr. also resides in Lubbock.

1979 – The Church of Scientology incorporates the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises. Among the organizations that later will fall under the WISE umbrella is the Clearwater Business Association.

Late 1970's - Mark David Chapman works with Vietnamese refugees at Fort Chafee Arkansas.

1980 – In an eerie mirroring of the plot of Robert Altman’s classic film Nashville, John Hinckley Jr. is arrested in Nashville on firearms charges. He later admits that he had already formed a plan to assassinate President Jimmy Carter to impress actress Jodie Foster and had come to Nashville because of Carter’s appearance in that city.

1980 – George H.W. Bush announces plans to run for President of the United States. Among his political and financial supporters are John W. Hinckley Sr., Chairman and President of Vanderbilt Energy Corporation, formerly Hinckley Oil.

1980 - George H.W. Bush is elected Vice President of the United States.

1980 – John Lennon is assassinated by Mark David Chapman.

1981 – Assassination attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan. Would be assassin John Hinckley Jr. is held. On the date of the attempt on Reagan’s life, the brother of John Hinckley Jr., Scott Hinckley, and the son of Vice President Bush, Neil Bush; were scheduled to have dinner together.

1981 – Son of President George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush; enters the real estate industry in Florida, eventually becoming a partner with Cuban immigrant Armando Cordina. In later years Bush would become a real estate consultant for Cuban exile Miguel Recarey, who assisted the CIA in attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro.

Early 80’s – The CIA provides weapons, training and money to the Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation. The trained and funded fighters ultimately organize the Taliban, who take control of Afghanistan in 1996 after seizing the capital, Kabul

Early 80’s – The CIA decides to fund their overt war in Afghanistan by assisting in the production and smuggling of opium made from Afghanistan poppy production.

Mid 80’s – Florida developer and co-founder of Straight Incorporated, serves on the White House Conference for a Drug Free America.

1988 – Mel Sembler serves on the National Steering Committee and the national Finance Committee for the Presidential campaign of George H.W. Bush.

1988 – George H.W. Bush is elected as the 41st President of the United States.

1989 – The state of New Jersey bars Synanon from doing business with NJ casinos after it is discovered they had a contract with Showboat Casino to provide a “Motivational program” to it’s employees. Through ADGAP, Synanon also sells about $30,000.00 worth of pens, pencils, key chains and other items.

1989 – The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations reports that members of the State Department provided support for the Contras by the use of drug trafficking.

Early 90’s – Military style “boot camps” for youth offenders become an option for the courts to send troubled kids. A 1997 Justice Department report finds that these boot camp style treatment programs are no more effective than juvenile prisons.

1992 – Bill Clinton defeats George H.W. Bush in the Presidential election. Clinton becomes the 42nd President of the United States.

1992 – The World Literacy Crusade is formed as a non-profit organization devoted to study technologies and drug rehabilitation technologies developed by L. Ron Hubbard.

1993 – Federal funding for Straight Incorporated is halted and the organization goes out of operation. Key employees and staff members immediately create new programs identical to Straight Incorporated and in some cases re-open in the same location as Straight Incorporated. Straight Incorporated becomes the Drug Free America Foundation. Board members of the Drug Free America Foundation include former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

1994 – One million Americans are incarcerated yearly on drug related offences.

1994 – Republican Mark Foley is elected to Congress. Before being elected to public office, Foley was involved in Florida real estate in the 80’s and later spearheaded Congressional work regarding laws against the sexual exploitation of children.

Mid 90’s – Synanon dies out as an organization.

1997 – Charles Dederich, founder of Synanon, dies.

1997 – The Wall Street Journal reports on the use of Mena, Arkansas in the trafficking of illegal drugs by the Contras, the CIA and the cover-up of these activities by then Arkansas Governor, Bill Clinton.

1997 to 2000 – Mel Sembler operates at the Finance Chairman for the Republican National Committee.

1998 – The CIA Inspector General published a two-volume report that describes the contra and contra-related entities that were involved in drug trafficking and protected by US law enforcement on orders from the Reagan and Bush administration.

2000 – George W. Bush is elected 43rd President of the United States.

2000 – The Taliban issues a decree banning opium poppy cultivation. At the time of the decree, Afghanistan supplied 75% of the world’s supply of opium.

2001 – The US Government gives Afghanistan $48 million dollars for reducing their opium production by 99.89%.

2001 – 9/11 attacks lead to the invasion of Afghanistan.

2001 – The Taliban are chased from power in Afghanistan.

2001 - Mel Sembler named US Ambassador to Italy.

2003 - The infamous forged Nigerian uranium yellowcake documents were reportedly recieved in a Rome apartment by an Itallian agent, Rocco Martino.

2003 – World Wide Association of Specialty Programs (WWASP) reports revenue of $80 million dollars. The WWASP Dundee Ranch Academy in Costa Rica is raided by child welfare authorities. The owner of the facility is arrested on charges of human rights violations.

2003 – Florida Congressman Mark Foley is given a special dinner by the Clearwater Business Association at the FLAG Land Base of the Church of Scientology.

2005 – The cost of waging the “War on Drugs” for the year 2005 totals $12 billion dollars, the cost of incarcerating drug law offenders is $30 billion dollars, $9 billion dollars for police protection, $4.5 billion for the legal expenses and $11 billion for state and federal correctional facilities. The total for all these activities is over $45 billion dollars.

2005 - Mel Sembler heads up the Scooter Libby defense fund raiser efforts. Several million are netted, Scooter walks on the charges after President Bush commutes his sentence.

2006 – The supply of opium from Afghanistan has increased dramatically. Before the rise of the Taliban, Afghanistan supplied 75% of the world’s opium supply. As of 2006 90% of the world’s opium comes from Afghanistan.

2006 – Florida Congressman Mark Foley resigns from his position following a scandal in which he solicited sex from young male Congressional Pages. Foley claims he has an alcohol problem and was molested by a Catholic priest when he was young.

2007 – The Taliban is in resurgence in Afghanistan.

Odd synchronicity -- Fossett, the Minot B-52 incident and the Syrian nuclear incident

During last night’s debate among the Democratic Presidential candidates, the question was put forward to Sen. Clinton regarding the mysterious Israeli airstrike in Syria that has reportedly involved a secret nuclear facility. Sen. Clinton’s tone, demeanor and delivery noticeably changed as she discussed what happened and from reading her body language it is obvious she has been let in on a certain amount of confidential information regarding the strike. The rest of us, meaning the rest of the world, is operating in a vacuum on this story. The silence is actually beginning to draw attention to itself.

Coupled with this event is the recent oddness of missing billionaire aviator Steve Fossett and the incredible story regarding the possibility that nuclear-armed Tomahawk cruise missiles have been moved in a manner that circumvents the control procedures for maintaining custody of nuclear weapons. Is there a connection between all or some of these recent events? Was the attack on the Syrian facility a component of a larger operation in which Iran was to have been attacked as well? Is the Fossett story cover or a sign of a much larger story?

First of all, we are operating with a certain ammount of unknowns for all three of these stories. The most open of the stories being the Fossett search. This hasn’t captured the imagination of the American public for a simple reason; we have already been desensitized to any missing aviator/person of wealth/under strange circumstances stories. Our obsession with missing women and children has also taken the interest level down a notch for Fossett. The McCann story updates alone are enough to push the Fossett story aside.

The areas that Fossett overflew are near quite a few airbases of extreme sensitivity to the US Military. The areas are remote with hidden canyons and areas where persons could operate in a clandestine mode if they wanted. Is it possible that Fossett’s plane was forced down or taken down out of concern that he may have observed something occurring on the ground?

Details, including timelines for the Minot-Barksdale incident are virtually impossible to find via mass media reports. The most curious aspect and one that I believe is being overlooked is the supposed 10 hour timeframe that the B-52 sat on the Barksdale tarmac, loaded with a dozen Tomahawks, half of which were armed with a nuclear payload. Could this 10-hour timeframe actually be cover for a trip from Minot southwest toward the Nevada-California border, followed by a quick eastern flight to the base in Shreveport?

Rumor and theories get started because of news blackouts, silence, stonewalling and disinfo like we are seeing in varying degrees with all three of these stories. The trick in trying to understand these stories and trying to find out if they are interconnected is to ask basic questions, the old Five W’s of reporting. Who? What? When? Where? Why? If answers cannot be found by following those guidelines and using them in follow-up questions it is then obvious that there is a problem with the official story.

The most curious aspect of the Fossett disappearance, in my mind, is the side story that Google released recent satellite images of an area that Fossett may have been in at the time of his disappearance and allowed users of Google Earth to assist in the search for the aviator. Information, in any investigation is crucial. What is most important in an investigation is not the quantity of the leads but the management of that information. Any time there is a massive flood of “tips” from the public in an investigation there is an added chance that the investigation will go in the wrong direction simply because the investigative team will be swamped with an avalanche of info.

Was this an example of a disinfo campaign or an attempt to overwhelm the investigative team so a covert operation could be run out in the open? The covert operation being the cleanup or removal of debris from an incident involving the Fossett plane.

In the case of the Tomahawks situation the most troubling aspects are the when and why of the matter. Timelines cannot be established without hitting odd inconsistencies. For example, the Air Force states that the plane sat, unguarded and open for more than 10 hours at Barksdale while senior officers attempted to establish whether or not nukes were sitting on the tarmac. An hour I can understand, but a 10-hour window is not reasonable. The answers for why this was the case is not satisfactory and leads us to question if this 10-hour window is truthful.

Why pilots flew from North Dakota to Louisiana, almost the entire longitudinal length of the contiguous United States, without knowing they were carrying live nuclear weapons and why the weapons officers allowed this to happen fly completely in the face of the accepted and required procedures for the storage, handling and release of weapons from the nuclear stockpile. This isn’t like a person making a mistake at the grocery store and picking up a low-fat version of some food product instead of the regular version.

The nukes were released from the stockpile for a specific reason. Officers, who have spent most if not all of their careers, certified in the world of tactical nuclear weapons, authorized this release and were satisfied that their orders were correct. For the last 39 years there has been a ban on flying nuclear weapons on combat aircraft and the only acceptable means of transporting nukes by air has been through specially built transport planes. Nuclear weapons are not marked like conventional weapons. All weapons are marked and color coded in a manner so there is absolutely no way of mistaking whether a weapon is live, inert, conventional, chemical, biological or radiological in nature.

In short, there could have been no mistake involved, starting with the lowliest E-1, E-2 or E-3 all the way up the chain of command. The missiles were intentionally released from the stockpile, loaded onto the B-52 and flown off the Minot Air Force Base. What became of them, where they went, when they arrived, who took possession of them and why this was done is not known to us but we can say without reason that the Air Force’s explanation for the who, what, when, where and why this happened neither makes sense or is reasonable.

This leads us back to the action in Syria. Our elected officials in America respond with vague answers that allude to absolute secrecy when questions are asked. Israel is keeping their mouths shut. Syria is keeping itself quiet. No one wants to talk about it. One thing that has come out is the legendary Israeli General Staff’s Reconnaissance Unit, aka Sayeret Matkal, may have taken nuclear materials out of the location before the air attack occured, disguised as members of the Syrian Army.

Why the deafening silence over this action? Did a nuclear accident occur during the ground raid or the air attack? If a nuclear accident did occur it is safe to say that remote monitoring stations would have detected the presence of radiation, so I think it’s safe to say that an accidental release of radiation from the air attack did not occur. It would also be foolish to attack the facility, with the fuel rods present, and not make an effort to remove them from the site. Even if they were buried under tons of debris they would still be present and make a tempting prize for anyone willing to remove them. Assuming they did remove nuclear materials from the site, does this mean they removed bundles of fuel rods from the site? Wouldn’t activity of this nature have drawn massive amounts of attention at the site? It certainly would have.

Bombing the site, with the fuel rods present, would have caused a release of radioactive materials, which would have been detected; therefore it is safe to assume that the Israelis did in fact remove the fuel rods before the airstrike since no release of radioactive materials has been observed. Other than slaughtering the entire group of people present at the work site, there is no way they could have removed bundles of fuel rods for a nuclear reactor without drawing a massive amount of attention. You couldn’t walk onto a job site anywhere in the world and simply commandeer a crane and steal a pile of rebar without a large group of workers, foremen, supervisors and project managers noticing and raising hell. It's safe to assume that a group of commandos couldn't remove fuel rods without generating a similar reaction from witnesses.

Something ominous has happened in Syria, something so serious and terrifying that government officials are afraid to talk about it. Something ominous has also happened to the American nuclear stockpile, something so serious and terrifying that government officials have created a cover story that is easily seen through as a lie, which foretells that it was created in haste, because they are afraid to tell us the truth. Something has also happened to Steve Fossett. Was he collateral damage, a pain in the ass innocent bystander who saw too much, or did he simply take one too many flights and the roulette wheel of statistics finally caught up with him when he bet red instead of putting all the chips on black?

Peeking into the memory hole

The memory hole is deep, dark and quiet. With our short attention span and constant need of being stimulated by something new, story after story has been cast into this hole, rarely discussed even on fringe sources of commentary or research. Save for bloggers, a few devoted online researchers who maintain specialized websites and the occasional reference in non-fiction books we lose the story and no one seems to question the timing or the effect of these stories. Time marches on, as the old saying went.

Here are three stories that have fallen into the memory hole but have been on my mind in recent weeks. These stories were like the month of March – in like a lion, out like a lamb.

The al-Qaeda chemical weapon test video.

Soon after the invasion of Afghanistan and just in time for the holiday get together with your family, the government released video excerpts of a supposed chemical weapon test that was performed by members of al-Qaeda. The tape showed a small dog enclosed in a room where a chemical weapon was released. Of all the somber and serious things being discussed at that time, the contents and inherent threat of this tape was very chilling.

So, have there been any more tapes like this discovered over the last 6 years of war? We have seen neither hide nor hair of a new tape. Considering the absolute fear this tape struck at the heart of every American and the speed in which it was found in Afghanistan, one would assume that if new tapes were found the intelligence agencies and the White House would want them declassified and released ASAP.

The ever changing terror alert levels.

You know the drill. All through 2002, 2003 and 2004 we had to live through various and vague warnings from the government that chatter was high or a specific threat had alarmed them sufficiently to raise the terror alert level. Every time it happened we had the living shit scared out of us, and the ominous feeling of the other shoe about to drop was on everyone’s mind.

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC has done one of the greatest services to this country that we can ever imagine by piecing together his “Nexus of Politics and Terror” pieces for his show. Unlike every Bush apologist in the country, I am not going to make a cause and effect correlation between the abrupt ceasing of these raised terror alerts and Olbermann’s work but it is interesting that once his story made it into popular culture of America the terror alert tweaking, stopped.

The kidnapping and beheading videos.

Daniel Perl and contractors galore were kidnapped and their executions videotaped in the early stages of the Iraq occupation. While the mainstream media refused to show the actual executions, the unedited tapes could be found for download online at various mayhem sites. The violence in Iraq has been dynamic. It has gone from being focused on the occupying forces to a Sunni on Shiite/Shiite on Sunni massacre. The number of contractors who are kidnapped and murdered has decreased but it’s not a sign that it’s safe for contractors or anyone in Iraq.

What is curious about these videos is how they solidified an idea into the collective minds of Americans that the invasion of Iraq was just and necessary at a time immediately after major combat operations had ended and it was obvious that there was absolutely no plan for “what next?” in Iraq by the White House. Instead of the media probing the coalition plan for rebuilding the nation the media could not stop talking about the kidnappings and brutal executions.

It is very interesting to me that these instances and other like them, have come and gone so quickly and considering the level of discussion they provided the American public, no one seems to wonder why they stopped. In the case of the chemical weapon tape it is curious to note that there has been no other instances of similar tapes being discovered. I’m quite sure that if tapes like this had been found we would have seen them as the fear and worry they produce is effective beyond belief in advancing the White House agenda and justifying their occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

What is the real mechanism of a story jumping into and off our radar? Our memory has always been short and with few exceptions even the worst of tragedies are forgotten and life goes on. Military disasters are forgotten; no one remembers or talks about the Forrestal flight deck fire even though Sen. John McCain was involved. Two nuclear powered American submarines lie at the bottom of the Atlantic, the only references to these sinking’s are related to the threat of radioactive materials. When was the last time you read or heard a reference to the hundreds of soldiers who died in the Gander air disaster?

Do these stories have a valid connection to current events? In the case of the chemical weapon test video, yes, that does have a connection with current events. The continual wolf cry of the neo-con operatives allude to the threat of CBR (Chemical, Biological and Radiological) attacks on American soil. So why has there not been another video of these types of tests released?

Over the years I have found it interesting to go back and look at my personal journals and see what newsworthy events of the day were noted. It is not often that a story that is not directly affecting my daily life is mentioned. The three stories I have mentioned in this posting were stories of the day that prompted an entry in my daily journal. It all leads me to wonder what other people think about their own memory hole.

Sleepers awake

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It is important for all of us to be concerned about Iranian President Ahmadinejab’s visit to the US, in particular the guarantee of his safety by US Law Enforcement. I believe that sometimes we can gauge the overall mood or concerns of the country by doing a scan of keywords from local and national news outlets, whether they be print, televised or electronic. With this in mind pay close attention to this headlines screen capture of the MSNBC website this morning. Do you see keywords and an overall tone that can be gathered by this screen cap?

Of course the graphic and the Newsweek story concern religion and more to the point, evangelicals. Is there a more radical Christian group in America than evangelicals? Look to the “More Top Stories” banner and check the content/tone of those headlines. US, Baiting, Insugents, Iraq. Angry, Welcome, Awaits, Iran. Strike, Deadline, Today. DEA, Nabs, Crackdown. More, Funerals, Home. Halo, Satisfying, Finale.

The keywords, even if not intentionally chosen with an agenda; incite or reflect fear, certainty of death and violence in their placement and order. Is this an example of the media instilling thoughts in the minds of the reader or is it just a coincidence? Would this be a message for a Manchurian Agent, a call for a sleeper to awake and move forward? The age of the assassin is returning, I have no doubt about that, just what would be the fallout if Iran lost it’s leader on American soil to a “lone nut gunman”?

Be on your toes and keep an eye out, folks. The signs are all around you.

60 Minutes interview with Iranian President Ahmadinejad -- Black propaganda in its most obvious form.

Is CBS correspondent Scott Pelley jonesing for a job at Faux News? Or is he simply trying to out-Stossel John Stossel? After viewing Pelley’s interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last night I was thrown aback at several comments made by Pelley and the overall effect of the Neo-Con puff piece. I even wondered which White House flunky was given the task of briefing Pelley before his trip to Tehran.

The propaganda of Pelley’s interview was in plain view, complete with faux outrage and the Neo-Con talking points showing themselves at various points. The aggressive tone of Pelley at times made me wonder out loud, “Would Pelley have the balls to be this direct with his own President, or would he just cave and kiss his ass?” What is more frightening to me than Iran’s nuclear intentions or Pelley’s lapdog story is how many people may have watched the interview and not recognized the black propaganda at work.

At one point Ahmadinejad appears to recognize the tactics of Pelley as being propaganda and he jabs back at him by equating his questions and tone with the work of the CIA. It’s foolish and naive to think that the Agency would not be interested in talking with Pelley or his crew after their return to the states, or to see the raw tape of their trip. With this in mind it’s interesting to note his sly smile and measured pacing of his responses and the comments themselves.

I’m not going to put my head in the sand and declare Ahmadinejad an innocent because he is not an innocent. This man is a carbon copy of our own President. Both are radical extremists with no conscience and they manipulate religious extremists into following their dangerous, hateful example. Neither man will be satisfied until the world is engulfed in flames.

What is depressing about the Pelley piece is the way it highlights the continual slide our Fourth Estate makes as it toes the corporate line; and the loss of insight that we cannot gain because our press stays on topic to suit the politicians and corporations and their agenda. At one point Pelley has the gall to tell the Iranian President, “I am just a reporter. I am a simple average American reporter.”

No Mr. Pelley, you are not just a simple average American reporter. I’m sure that if we compared your yearly salary with 95% of the American press corp we would see that you aren’t average. You would be in the financial elite of the class. As for proclaiming yourself as simple, please spare all of us the ridiculous self-depreciation. Show me a talking head who is not self-obsessed and far too complicated and I’ll show you a talking head who works the news in Chattanooga or Sioux Falls or a Class II or III or IV market.

TSA screeners trained to be con artists on your dime

First we discovered that DHS Secretary Chertoff’s guts were the tool of choice to gauge whether or not a terrorist attack is immanent; now an article from the Washington Post, and posted on MSNBC’s website, give us a look at the latest security tactic, cold readings. A cold reading, for those who aren’t familiar with the phrase, is a technique used by con artists, salesmen and psychics as a method to manipulate a person into believing that the cold reader holds a special power. One of the skills involved in cold reading is identifying the meaning behind the body language of their mark.

Our tax dollars are now being spent on training TSA employees in the art of cold reading. At the moment there have been 600 trained in this skill with another 1000 that will be trained by the end of the year. The success rate for their work? An abysmal rate of less than 0.75%. Of the 40,000 travelers detained because a government trained cold reader spotted something, less than 300 were found to be guilty of any crime. I think it’s safe to say that a cop could pull a random sample of folks off the street, frisk them and run a warrant check and get a higher rate of arrests than this program.

What are the TSA employees looking for? Well, that’s a secret (what isn’t a secret these days?) but according to the article former screeners, current screeners and consultants say they are looking for, “people traveling without bags, sweating and constantly checking out every person passing by, especially those with badges and guns. People who avoid eye contact or veer away when police approach also draw their attention.” They just described a large number of folks at an airport on any given day.

Since the airlines started becoming major dicks about carry-on bags, a lot of travelers don’t have bags to carry on unless they have their laptop with them. Sweating? Well since we have to race across the airport in an attempt to make flights because the screening lines take so long to get through and connecting flight times are synchronized far too closely together, of course we are sweaty. Try running from the T concourse in Atlanta all the way over to the B concourse because your plane leaves in 20 minutes and tell me your ass won’t sweat.

Constantly checking out every person passing by. That is one I do all the time. I’m always looking at the women who pass and I always look to see if I see someone of celebrity status or a level of importance. The airport is one of the few places where the unwashed masses like me have a chance of seeing someone big. I once saw former baseball player Rickey Henderson at the Atlanta airport, waiting to get on the same plane as me. Then again, doesn’t our government heavily promote that we civilians “stay vigilant” and watch everyone closely? Don’t they want us to spy on one another? So we are put in a Catch-22 situation. Do we bury our head in the paperback we brought with us or do we people watch for entertainment and “National Security” purposes?

This also leads me to wonder if any of those TSA employees will use the knowledge they gain from the training for purposes outside the workplace. While the training period itself is too short to be of any real value it does give them the foundation to learning the ropes of the con game. OJT is a part of this program, where they can hone their skills and become good at it. Possibly even attaining a degree of skill to actually manipulate the thoughts, beliefs and actions of a person. Will the less than ethical and immoral members of the TSA use these newfound skills to run confidence games?

Once again the disappointment of our government in action is just depressing when you dig deeper into what they are doing. I’m waiting for the President to perform a séance and bring forth the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Knowing these sociopaths it wouldn’t surprise me if they tried.

The hypocracy meter

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New definition of an escrow account -- A piggy bank begging to be cracked open.

An article posted on the Baltimore Sun website offers a true example of a nightmare for any homeowner. Baltimore City and Baltimore County tax officials are acknowledging that property tax checks from American Home Mortgage that were meant to pay property taxes for their customers, are bouncing. The situation is so serious that Baltimore County is no longer accepting corporate checks written against the bank accounts of American Home Mortgage. All payments from them will have to come in the form of a certified check. Just as troubling in this report is a comment by a senior financial analyst from Bankrate.com that property tax checks are not even being sent.

Regardless of the financial situation faced by a homeowner in this day and age one thing any homeowner would expect is for the mortgage company to have maintained the funds necessary in the escrow account for each borrower. It appears that this has not happened. Unless American Home Mortgage has failed to deposit the funds given to them by the buyer into the escrow account, I simply can’t see a reason why these checks would bounce. There has been a suggestion that their escrow bank account has been frozen for protection while it undergoes Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

This also does not ring true with me. Unless the account was frozen out of concern that AHM would dip into this account to keep itself afloat or rob the coffers. So, where does this story stand? Has American Home Mortgage failed to live up to its side of the legal agreement it made with its customers by not depositing funds into their escrow accounts? Have the escrow accounts been frozen because there was withdrawal activity seen which set off red flags? Is it just a simple mistake?

All postulation aside the most troubling story behind this is that if the property taxes are not paid by American Home Mortgage the homeowners will be the fall guys. The taxes will still be due and if they are not paid by AHM the homeowner will be hit with a late payment penalty and if they can’t pay that bill their property can be put up for auction at a tax sale.

Imagine you’ve paid your mortgage payments and you are just holding on and keeping your head above water and this hits you. Or, just as horrible, the mortgage company doesn’t pay your homeowner’s insurance and you suffer a fire or, since the mortgage terms always state that you must maintain insurance, they cancel your insurance for non-payment and order you to pay for insurance on your own?

The scandals involved with the housing conspiracy continue to deepen. Coming up in the mix…insurance companies get shafted and lay off employees, lose their income stream and fail. Also in the pike are stories about the “winners” in this conspiracy, the financial institutions that gain control of large swaths of American property. Just beyond that, homelessness for former homeowners who can not find affordable rental property or cannot find an apartment leasing company that will rent an apartment to them because of their foreclosure. Down the road…vacant homes, American suburbia becomes a ghost town.

High Weirdness Drifter

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The state of music chart

Too much doom and gloom today, even for me. I need a pick me up post. Here is my chart showing the current state of popular music.

Does lightning strike twice?

The Sunni tribal leader who is credited by most reliable news sources outside the US as being the true reason behind the decrease in violence in the Anbar region of Iraq, has been killed in an explosion. Sheik Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha was the leader of the Anbar Salvation Council and was able to pull together what was once a loose group of more than 30 Sunni tribes and began making a change in the violence in that region. Two things are striking about this situation and are reason to pay close attention.

For starters there had been inner political turmoil brewing in the group and in June a breakaway group of 12 tribal leaders occurred, with those 12 vowing to destroy the Anbar Salvation Council and Abu Risha. Second, history has shown to us that assassinations like this can precede major events.

On September 9, 2001 Ahmad Shah Massoud, the former Defense Minister of Afghanistan before the rise of the Taliban, was assassinated by an explosion. The theory floated to explain his assassination has been that his death would assist the Taliban in maintaining their control over Afghanistan following what would be the expected US response after the 911 attacks.

Could the Abu Risha assassination be a precursor to another major event which would lead to an increased presence in Iraq or the Middle Eastern region? Abu Risha had formed a strong Sunni coalition that had chased AQI from the Anbar region, his creation of the Anbar Salvation Council was pure grass roots and shocked the US when it occurred, and as a Sunni leader he was in the minority in Iraq where Shiite is the predominant sect. It should also be noted that the religious majority of Iran are also Shiite and if there is war with Iran, Shiite support would almost certainly flow across the border into Iran from Iraq.

With the Conspiracy Theory boards and websites abuzz with tomorrow’s Air Force stand down and concern that something is afoot all the way out to the 18th of September, it is somewhat odd that this assassination occurs in a manner so similar to what occurred two days before the 911 attacks.

The Conspiracy Theory "Who benefited from 9/11?" chart

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Fossett, the B-52 story and the 9/14 Air Force stand down

(Note from the CT Blogger 9/27/2007: for more commentary on this story please follow this link, or click the subject tags at the end of this post.)

Several of the conspiracy theory message boards and websites with original content have been hotly discussing the nexus of missing aviator Steve Fossett, the B-52 nuke incident from last week and the announced stand down by the US Air Force on the 14th of this month. Some of the theories range from the Fossett disappearance is the cover story for a missing nuke from the B-52 incident, to ideas that a false flag event could occur on the 14th with what suspiciously seems like a missing nuke since Air Force reports can't agree on whether 5 or 6 Advanced Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles were aboard the bomber.

This does bring to mind the curious story of professional golfer Payne Stewart, who died in a plane crash in 1999. Many 911 theorists have made note that the planes used in the attacks may have been remotely piloted and Stewart's crash has been pulled into the theory. Their belief is that Stewart's plane was a test run for remote piloting an aircraft for a long distance and under conditions that would have alerted NORAD and the FAA.

Did the B-52 incident result in an Empty Quiver for the Air Force, as has been discussed on the boards? We'll never know, unless a nuke just so happens to go off at an unlikely place at an unlikely time. How would we know something is fishy? We wouldn't as it is known that in a martial law situation the Government will sieze all communications capabilities in the US. The odd and most unexplained issue about the B-52 incident is the source.

We know nothing of the source, I cannot even locate the original story online which began this intreresting event. The general belief is that a whistleblower from within the military got the story out but to whom it was reported to is a mystery to me. It seems this simply showed up on the AP newswire and everyone ran the story. We know that the AP doesn't do investigative journalism and their reporters aren't the sort of visible faces one would expect a whistleblower to seek out.

In some ways I believe the who, what, when, where and why of the act of reporting this story is just as odd as the actual story itself.

9/11 -- Weren't we supposed to be somewhere by now?

We are now six years past the 9/11 attacks. We are still in Afghanistan and the political situation there is deteriorating at a worrisome rate. We are still in Iraq and the political situation there is beyond terrifying. We are on the cusp of an enormous economic meltdown. 32% of Americans approve of Bush’s policies and only 18% approve of the “work” being done by our anemic Congress.

We have been cast adrift by the psychotic and the evil who rule and control this nation. We float down a river of money that is quickly becoming a dry riverbed and the boats that store the money are bulging at the seams. The rest of us are walking in the mud-covered banks. Facts of what has been done, and is being done, in the name of America and all Americans are known to anyone who will take 30 minutes of their life to scour the web for information. Millions are slowly realizing this but millions more ape the slack-jawed intrigue of celebrities and their substance abuse problems as though it were more important.

On September 10th, 2001, stock in General Dynamics sat at $37.99 per share. Today their stock sits at $78.70. Like all members of the Military Industrial Complex, GD has made the proverbial killing off the literal killing. Why end the war when money is there to be made? The easiest way to trick Americans into forking over the cash to military contractors is to parrot the old lines of “support the troops” and “give the troops the best equipment available.” These lines of propaganda address neither the true welfare of the “troops” nor does it address the necessity of maintaining a well armed and well trained armed force. It only makes a great sound bite that gurantees the military contractors get fat and rich off our national treasure.

The CIA is no longer relegated to having one hand tied behind it’s back. It can torture and tarnish our good name as a nation with both hands and a little extra help from the powers that be. Stripping the CIA of many of it’s powers following the Church Committee in the early 70’s was a great first step. Daddy Bush kept the company afloat during the Carter administration and came within a hairs breadth of unleashing it to 60’s level of power when the attempt to assassinate Reagan almost succeded. The CIA may have been raked over the coals in the GAO report on the agency’s handling of the 9/11 attacks but it does not matter to them. They have carte blanche rule again and this time they will not let the power slip through their fingers like they did in the 70’s.

Life in America is worse than it was six years ago. Not because of the attacks, but because of the government that Lords over us like livestock and its actions. Nothing about this country or its path post-9/11 is promising or American. Brussell’s found fascists bred, multiplied and have taken over the asylum. They are our masters and if Mae were alive today she would be telling all of us what to expect in the coming years. We would be reading about what the year 2010 will bring us if her sharp mind were alive to look at our present state.

The America we were taught in school is long gone. Probable cause, civil rights and the Bill of Rights have been thrown away like so much garbage. No longer are we a free society but instead we are a fee society. The fees are the prices we pay to be avoided by the feds and their evil little eyes. The average American is afraid of everything, given no breathing room and pushed into submission every single day. We have no say over who represents us and no means of educating ourselves with facts that can be digested in an easily understood way. We are left to the cryptic legalese of our masters and the withholding of information we need to make informed and just decisions about the world we exist in.

We have no Teddy Roosevelt type politician to untangle the mess of our generation’s own, evil version of William McKinley. All we have are think tanks and special “Democracy Institutes” who’s sole purpose is to drive the public’s perception of what America means into their prefab concoction. These prefab ideals of America, freedom and democracy are guided by ultra-conservative industrialist ideals. They have no bearing or resemblance to the reality of American life.

The Powell Manifesto spreads its demon seed across this nation, like a weed that chokes the life from average Americans and hypnotizes us into believing we are being enslaved by our own freedoms and not big business. The Project for the New American Century gave us the playbook for the new chapter in the story of our downfall and its mad monks still drive this nation to the edge of the cliff while convincing us that the precipice ahead is simply the crest of a hill and there will smooth coasting down the other side. The Christian Coalition is an abomination of the teachings of Christ.

As Hunter S. Thompson once wrote about Richard Nixon, “he appeals to the werewolf in all of us.”; we should say that the new way appeals to the masochist in all of us. We apparently wish to be enslaved otherwise we would use the 14 oz. of soft tissue and chemicals that resides in our collected skulls and stand up to this disaster of life called America. The politicians who run for the upper echelons of office in this nation understand less about us than we do about them. They neither look, talk, dress or think like we do.

A favorite slogan of the rabid overlords and their monkeys is that “September 11th changed everything.” September 11th did change everything; it threw away the cloak of decency and humanity that the powers that be had to wear for so long. No longer restrained by the sake of appearances they run wild and free. We are frozen in thought and logic, paralyzed by the realization of what we allowed to happen. All because we were scared. Scared of what?

For less than pennies on the dollar we are bought and sold by faceless men and corporations on a daily basis. We have no say in the quality and safety of the air that we breathe, the water that we drink, the food we consume or the trinkets of childhood that we give to our own beloved children. When we speak up we are shouted down, told we are hindering the progress of business, told that what our eyes see are lies and if that doesn’t work we can now be disappeared by our very own government at the discretion of some bureaucrat with whom the President has delegated this power to. Was it Bob Jones University or Liberty University that shaped this public servant drone’s worldview? Will Jesus forgive their sins?

The vague scent of political assassins are at our door. They have been absent from the national scene since the early 80’s and there are signs they will be returning over the next 14 months. We had the mind control subject named Cho at Virginia Tech, there has been an odd instance of threat to Democratic candidate Barak Obama and now the pop culture is being pre-conditioned with a recent video of Ted Nugent ranting against the liberals with weapons and sexual innuendo. The assassins are being primed and even Arthur Bremmer, the attempted assassin of George Wallace, will be released soon from prison.

Is this what has changed since 9/11; our mental state? We are being prepared for assassinations, more wars, more economic disparity, more sickness and more death. We have been conditioned by the TV, the newspapers, the magazines and in some cases we are being conditioned by websites and Astroturf movements to accept what is coming as inevitable. The glee of William Kristol when he speaks of nuclear armegeddon over Iran is unmistakable. The disconnect of our President when he speaks of matters of American life is sickening. The hate of those who claim to be washed by the blood of Christ is blasphemous. The lies of the falsely pious choke us.

The darkness of 2007 makes the confusion of 1967 seem quaint. The despair of 1937 seems simple when compared to the ponzi schemes and 3 card monte of international finance when your home is part of some convoluted bond/fund structure. As 2007 nears an end, 2008 seems less hopeful. Even the upcoming month of October seems ominous with over $50 billion dollars of ARM homes being prepared to reset rates. Even the shenanigans of Enron and the bogus California energy crisis of the summer of 2001 sounds more like a innocent scheme than a crime when compared to the pillaging that is going on unabated in 2007.

We will reach a snapping point in this country, when that point is met will we have any power to fight back? Will we even have the heart to stand up?

A little more than 2000 days later

In a world that seems to be spiraling out of control it is hard to nail down one solution or one area that could be addressed to stop the full bleed out. The Iraq war will not end and the President is opening small cracks in the door of the plans set out by the powers that be. Socially our nation is getting closer to the full split with everyone at each other’s throats because of race or religion or ethnicity. We have a daily dose of fear and we can’t find the energy to shrug it off and laugh at the people who force feed us with that tactic.

Just looking at the economic situation is enough to make the hair stand on end. Washington Mutual bank has now claimed that the housing market is in a “Near perfect storm” as one financial institution after another sounds warning sirens over the current state of the economy. The worst is yet to come and I am not certain if even the masters of this system are even in control of what will happen. When the brightest economists say they don’t know what will happen, it’s a sign we should hang on.

At this point the only optimism we can afford is the occasional “feel good story” on the evening news but even those are tainted by dark and disturbing circumstances that result in a feel good story. Finding our way through the lies and deceit of our leaders is becoming even more difficult as they no longer attempt to cover their tracks. They even swear up and down that the new bin Laden videotape is who they say he is even though the man seen in the video is obviously not bin Laden. They have pulled this trick on us before with fake OBLs who are right handed as well.

Our boogy man, our haint, our campfire story of men with hooks for hands are the creatures our leaders give to us. A generation ago it was the evil empire of communists. Two generations ago it was the Godless communists and civil rights “instigators”. Three generations ago it was, for Americans, the entire outside world, with Europe festering and Japan stomping across Asia like a machine. We are fed fear from all fronts, all the time and it’s no wonder we react the way we do.

The timing of these scares and events is always convenient for the real and puppet leaders of this country. Between the last week of August and this week, the 6th anniversary of the 911 attacks we have seen the resignation of the worst attorney general in US history. The sex scandal engulfing a senior US Senator, the release of a book that catches our President in full bald faced lies regarding the future of the Iraq war. A new OBL tape has been released and the General who is overseeing the Iraq debacle is in Washington this week to report on the status of Iraq, except he has no report.

You can rest assured that the teat suckling beasts of General Dynamics, Lockheed and every other defense contractor is out in full force too, with their lobbyists, to prod and poke Congress into seeing things their way over the so-called Global War on Terrorism. Same with the numerous private contractors like McNeil Technologies, who are making billions on their “work” in Iraq. There is still wealth and power to grab from the deserts of the Middle East for them to let it go now.

The mechanisms of war and the bottom feeders that grease the gears and supply fuel to the engines of war do not turn off so easily. The open door and blank check were laid out immediately after the 911 attacks. We are told to shut up when we dissent to the atrocities done in our name and we are targeted as un-American when we point out the reality of the situation. Words like love, understanding and compassion become the vulgar and mockable descriptions for supposed left-wing kooks who are just touchy feely freaks. You cannot even say enough is enough without being labeled, red flagged and spied upon.

Americans seem to be slowly waking from their sleep of fear but there is still a long way to go. The beast has grown to a size that is almost unimaginable and the mountain that needs to be climbed to bring this beast under control seems insurmountable. On this day before the 911 attacks, a day that we should be angry, life seems to be going on with less attention to the bigger picture than what we are giving to the smaller things. We fail to focus on the bigger forest because the trees we are looking at in the small corner of the woods are the only ones on fire.

Sembler Co., DeKalb County and the billion dollar disco ball.

Did I ever mention to you that I hate developers, more to the point Atlanta developers, with a passion? I also hate the infill folks and the “urban pioneers” who completely erase the historical legacies of the neighborhoods that they feel they are gracing with their presence, bad taste and bad manners. Cabbagetown is a shell of what it once was, the Oakhurst district is threatened and the newest threat to the way things are is the Sembler Co. looking to redevelop the North Druid Hills Road area just south of I-85.

Sembler has given us a new wrinkle to this mad money grab in the area of the traffic problems. If you have ever driven through that area at rush hour you know how it goes, for those not familiar with what happens here is the 411. If you are heading south on North Druid Hills Road, heading in the direction of North DeKalb Mall, on the worst day traffic will back up at Buford Highway. It’s a stop and go crawl all the way down to the Target Super Store across the street from the school. Traffic will thin out a little until you reach LaVista, where it’s stop and go all the way down to Clairmont. I have no idea how bad it stays past Clairmont but I am assuming it does follow a similar routine all the way down to the mall and Stone Mountain Parkway.

So, what is Sembler’s plan to relieve the already growing congestion to make room for the thousands of cars that will be added because of their billion-dollar project? They want to send the “regional” traffic (folks not stopping at their shrine to greed) underground. Yes, they want to make the rest of us mole people. There is a problem though. Have these knuckleheads ever seen the folks merge from the 85 exit onto N. Druid Hills? Have they ever seen people trying to scoot across 3 lanes of traffic to get onto Briarcliff? They expect us to believe their redesign of the roads will take that into account? Bullshit, I say.

What do they have planned for the “local traffic”, which would be those wanting to stop off at their greed shrine or at the Chik-Fil-A or the Target or Picadilly? Well let’s just throw a roundabout in the mix. These waterheads are convinced that a roundabout will solve all the traffic woes. Have those folks ever driven through a roundabout in America at a heavy traffic intersection? The fuckers don’t work in any way except to keep the auto body shops in business fixing sideswiping idiots.

A Sembler style project can work and be a benefit to the community if it is in the right place. Atlantic Station, for example, did a service to the community by cleaning up an abandoned industrial site and expanded an already expanding Midtown district. The area that Sembler wants to redevelop doesn’t need redevelopment. We need a better traffic plan but the answer isn’t building a billion dollar mixed-use development.

That area has numerous offices, thriving businesses and residential areas. I don’t see Loehman’s Plaza hurting. I don’t see the Picadilly, my favorite one in the Atlanta area, having trouble filling seats on any day or night. Guitar Center is PACKED on any given day. The Chik-Fil-A always has customers. The Target even expanded a few years back because the business is good. There is always a long line of cars at the QT waiting to fill up on their gas.

So, why does Sembler NEED to “redevelop” this area? It’s not needed, it’s unnecessary and it will make a horrible mess of an already congested area. Why does Sembler NEED to redevelop? Simple answer. They aren’t satisfied with just having a shitload of money, they want a king hell shitload of money. A billion dollar investment is one hell of a risk to take, especially in this economic downturn, and if they are willing to risk it they must have studies and reports sitting in their offices that show they can make a killing by doing a quick fuck job on the citizens of DeKalb County.

If you think this redevelopment plan is a good idea I think you need to talk with the folks who have seen how the Perimeter Center development has adversely affected the folks who live and work around that area. If you aren’t convinced you need to also ask yourself what is going to happen if this plan goes through and all the warnings you have been given come true. How would it even be possible to repair the sort of damage they want to do? How is DeKalb County going to pay for the upkeep of those tunnels they want to build?

If you think it’s a good idea, WHY do you think it’s a good idea? Is it because you want new places to shop? Go to Buckhead and shop, its only 15 minutes further away. Is it because you want the development to increase your property values? If your property values are so strongly tied to local commercial investments you should have moved your happy ass to Buckhead or Midtown and NOT the bedroom communities that surround this area. Is it simply because your easily distracted by shinny things? If that’s the case buy a disco ball and stare at it all you want.

Osama bin buying Just For Men, For Beards

“What are you going to do when your style gets old?” Those are the immortal words of the great Bootsy Collins. It appears that the sociopaths of Washington are hitting the same delimma as the American public is slowly waking up and asking what the fuck, dude?! Now, 4 days before the anniversary of the 911 attacks, our old boogy man and all around scary olive skinned guy with a big beard is popping his head in the door, saying hello. He’s back, ladies and germs…you know him, you love him, you can’t live without him…Osama Bin Laden has dropped his newest CD.

There is a catch to this new video. It appears Osama bin buying Just For Men and has apparently done the rounds at the cosmetic surgeon offices of Jalalabad. Folks, this new and improved OBL is a red herring. Look at that picture comparison and tell me those are the same two men. The photo on the right is the fancy pants new OBL, fresh from his vacation at the Tora Bora Club Med. The one on the left? Well, maybe it is the Binster and maybe it ‘aint. The boys at the CIA say it’s so and who am I to disagree?

The CIA did get one thing right when they scotch taped this video together on a drunken weekend visit to Pakistan and that’s the Obi-Wan Kenobi robes. How many times did the boys at Langley look at the updated double trilogy before they realized that old Obi-Wan wears the same threads as OBL? Go figure!

Other than the costume they must be having trouble finding OBL look alikes. I assume the Rangers have bagged dozens of men that sorta kinda maybe looked like “Ossammer” through a long range scope just before Pvt. PoBoy from Louisiana went all kill crazy on them, thus making the supply of OBL doubles more and more difficult for the CIA to get for their gigs.

What should we make of this new video? Honestly, we need to spit this one back in the face of the masters. The shoddy production values have slipped further than the 4th movie in a Hollywood franchise and now the gubbmint is doing the old, “No really, it’s him! It’s really him! Why don’t you believe me?” routine. Just how fucking stupid do they think we really are?