Feds Bail out Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/treasury-set-bail-out-fannie/story.aspx?guid=%7B46D1439E-A2C4-418C-9BE0-09BE0B9EE60D%7D&dist=msr_4

So, the feds are bailing out corporations. Again. All while this worthless Administration cuts social benefits are being cut, we have two morons on the Repub ticket, both will do more damage to social programs, students in higher education, children, families. It's okay to bail out corporations, but not okay to provide health care to every man woman and child in America. It's okay to have college educations cost more than a house in many areas. It is all a ploy to get the rich richer, keep the poor poorer, and build a corporate christian fascist base. Before anyone spazzes, I know ultimately people who own their homes through these mortgage companies, and people need help. The republicans only care about the company, not the individuals that make it up, unless they are in the top spots.

Think they care? Look at this new psycho Sarah Palin. She cut special needs education by 62%. How's that for right wing Christianity? And to get on the stage and say she's a friend to the disadvantaged. It furthers my belief in the utter failure of the Republican party and the American right wing as well as their churches...
Peace-Revolution...let us take our country back...

REST IN PEACE MR. LE ROI MOORE

Your music had a profound effect on me. You will be sorely missed. Blessings and Peace on your gifted, wonderful soul...

The first concert I took my son Jakob to was a Dave Matthews Band show in Bonner Springs, Kansas. They opened with #41. Their encore that night was Don't Drink the Water.

LeRoi's woodwinds on songs like Bartender captivated me or years, literally.

When Kelli first got me into DMB sometime in 2002, I focused on their music for at least three years, exclusively. Three years of nothing but Dave in the CD player and nothing but Dave on the DVD player. I picked their music apart. In fact, not since I was an adolescent have I completely studied a band. Then it was The Who. To a lesser degree The Doors and Zeppelin along with Pink Floyd, Rush and others...But as an adult, DMB I have followed. Since then the only artist to pique my interest to the same degree is Mos Def.

Well, I can't imagine DMB being the same. Clearly the band is going to go on. I'll still buy tickets to their shows.

I just realized, Kell, Jakob and I saw LeRoi at the Gorge for I think his last show there. Last summer...Peace and love, all

Mike

ABC News: Sen. Jesse Helms Dead at 86

ABC News: Sen. Jesse Helms Dead at 86

Jesse Helms was a racist, poor hating, fearmongering dolt. He will not be missed.

PEOPLE TALKING WAR

http://http//www.mg.co.za/article/2008-06-25-guards-say-us-to-face-tragedy-if-it-hits-iran




The above link is to an article in The Guardian. I shudder at the thought of nations talking of war with Iran. I read an article the other day that described the EU tightening sanctions against Iran. At the begining of Bush's Presidency I supported him in the drum beats to war with Iraq. Of course, I believed what the government told me about WMD in Iraq, and they had me convinced that it was a good idea.




But this idea of going to war with Iran is crazy. Haven't we lost enough children in the war with Iraq? Must we make war upon every country that we disagree with? Look at the ticker on the right side of my blog. This is the number of Iraqis dead, that is dead-never coming back. Never. Babies whose lives are over because the US government was hell bent on taking down Saddam. George Bush in particular, but the VP is to blame, Powell, Rice, Wolfowitz...just to name a few.





And now Bush is talking war with Iran, using some 0f the same rhetoric he used to go to war with Iraq. Making comments like, "the choice is theirs" and the like. Treating a sovereign nation as though they were children. I think it would be a terrible mistake if we launched a war against Iran currently, and the thought of getting into a ground war with Iran is out there as well.





We have to think about the issues at home rather than continue to feed the ravenous war machine that the "war on terror" has created. The war profiteers are champing at the bit to get into Iran, it would mean billions more for their companies. Billions more funded by the Federal government. Money that could be better spent on education, health and the welfare of the people.





It is time to put and end to this madness.


Surely George Bush doesn't have enough time left in his term to actually get us into a full war with Iran.

I BEEN TO CHURCH TODAY

My son and I went to Highland Christian Center on 76th & Glisan in Portland. The Rev. Dr. G.W. Hardy is the senior pastor. The pastor touched on a number of subjects, you just should have been there. There was a lot of love, great music fiery preaching...

They honored the individuals that graduated this season.

Sen. Gordon Smith, (R) Oregon was there. I'm not pulling for him.

It was good. We'll definitely be back.

Image courtesy of highlandministries.org

KATRINA AID ARRIVES IN NEW ORLEANS

How long has it been since Katrina? According to CNN, trucks began to arrive in N.O. with aid that has been locked in a warehouse for two years. This is another sign of the United States being a failed state as described by Noam Chomsky.

This is just one of the many reasons I am not voting Republican this time. Every citizen of the US should read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine.

I bought it just after it came out and I am on my second read of the book. Ms. Klein does an exceptional job at researching Milton Friedman's economics, and the linking of his Chicago School of Economics to individuals such as Pinochet of Chile, Ronald Reagan, Bush's 1&2 and others.

The free marketers used the disaster after Katrina while the populace was still in shock to wipe out social programs and privatize a number of different things such as the school system. This was also used in the aftermath of the Tsunami of 2004. The fishing villages that had been on the beaches for generations are now in the hands of a few hoteliers and the people that made their living fishing are now ejected off of their land and their land given to another.

Sound familiar?

Let's face it: Kanye West was right. George Bush does not like Black people. The poor Black people of the Lower Ninth Ward in N.O. will never see their homes rebuilt. They are not welcome there any longer, and this was a perfect opportunity to commandeer their land and hand it over to someone else.

It is time for change in the US. The trickle down economics of the Reagan era DO NOT WORK. I agree with John Keynes. There can be a balance of social programs, and private ventures. In fact there has to be. Let's face it. There are people out there that need a helping hand up, yet the federal and state legistatures for the past 28 years has made a concerted effort to oppress the oppressed even more. The cutting of social programs, the laughable focus on education-primary, secondary, and higher-and the specific targeting of the people of color (individuals can deny that it is racially motivated but it is) the turning of backs on the urban centers of the US has done nothing but create a bigger gap between the haves and have nots. I believe it is time to make that gap smaller.

The Federal government must make higher education a priority. The US must provide free higher education for all individuals that want to take advantage of it. We must provide housing for the poor, food for the hungry, clothes for the naked. We must provide health care for all, that is medical, dental, vision. It is time to stop the elite corporations and corporate America from running this country. It is time to stop Corporate welfare.

The American society vilifies the individual that needs subsidized yet the Feds pump billions of dollars worth of subsidies into massive corporations while these corps make record profit.

Did you know in the State of Washington the income cap for a family of three to receive food stamps is a mere $1861? This may seem like a lot to someone outside of the US in some countries, however, it is a pittance here. I am going on a crusade to change the attitude of people in the Untied States regarding taking care of our fellow man. For children to go hungry in the US is outrageous. For men and women to go hungry or be homeless is shameful. I know I have my work cut out for me when I hear people as young as 24 say things like: "The homeless are homeless because they're lazy." What a joke. Most homeless people are people that suffer from mental illness, that can be treated if the US had a reasonable medical system that was not based on profit, but was based on care. Which brings me to another statement.

People employed by insurance companies that deny services to a customer that pays premiums for health coverage that results in the death or permanent disability of the individual or individual covered by the policy issued b that company must be brought up on criminal charges. Have you ever seen Michael Moore's Sicko? There is a scene in which a woman while testifying before Congress is describing how, as a physician, she stamped "DENIED" on perhaps hundreds of claims that resulted in peoples' deaths. Why is this woman not being held accountable for these peoples' deaths? If I knowingly withheld medical treatment from my child while having the financial means to provide for my child and my baby died, I would be charged with a crime. The same ought to apply to individuals that work for Aetna, or Kaiser, Or Blue Cross, etc. Start holding the companies accountable and charging the individuals, that deny, better yet charge the CEO with murder and this will stop.

I will work to ensure that insurance companies are held accountable for their actions.

It is time to think about each other, to tap into a desire to build each other up instead of tearing one another down, and it is time for the self-centeredness and the "I'm gonna get mine" attitude in the US to change.

Peace to you and let's work together for change.

Images courtesy of ebooknetworking.com and sicko-movie.com

MEETING WITH DEB WALLACE, WASHINGTON STATE

I had a meeting (I described it below) with the Representative from the 17th Legislative district. It went very well. She was a very articulate woman that seemed genuinely interested in the problems facing my family. I brought my son Jakob, and her assistant assisted me in watching him while we talked. She has some genuine concerns regarding education and the struggle that people go through to get an education in the US. I'm glad I went to meet with her, I look forward to meeting her again as well as her meeting Kelli, and we'll see what the future holds. Thanks, Deb for listening, I know major change is coming to the US, and you helped me to solidify my direction in this world.

NEWS ALERT! CHILDREN DON'T NEED MILK AFTER AGE FIVE!!!

I just got off the phone with a representative from WIC. WIC is a US Gov't program for women, infants, and children to receive food subsidies such as cereal, milk, cheese and the like. The cut off age is five. When I expressed my disbelief regarding the cutoff age, the lady I spoke with, to her credit, was extremely apologetic and explained the cutoff age was Federally mandated.



Oh these Federal elected officials...This is one more example pf the problems I am having with the United States Government. Let me throw some numbers at you...



332,258,064 $ per day spent in Iraq

13,844,084 $ per hour spent in Iraq

230,734 $ per minute spent in Iraq

3,845 $ per second spent in Iraq

These numbers are courtesy of Democratic Caucus Senate Journal...



I am becoming increasingly outraged at the treatment of the citizens of this country as well as the fiscal mismanagement of our nation. We are throwing millions of dollars at corporations such as Exxon Mobile through corporate welfare and we are slashing and burning subsidies to the low income individuals and families.

The gov't just doesn't get it. My child needs milk. My child needs clothes. His momma needs an education. His daddy needs a job that is secure and pays well. He needs health care as well.

And Bush vetoed the SCHIP program. For those of you that don't know, the SCHIP program is a state health insurance program, and the democrats wanted to expand it. Bush thought it sounded too much like socialized medicine. So what is wrong with helping each other out and making sure your fellow man is taken care of? Did Jesus Himself not say to do just that?

I just got off work and I'm going to publish what I have now, typos and all because the autosave feature is not working. I have some more thought that I must get down tomorrow...Peace and mush love to all, there will come a time that things will improve in our country, I will not allow myself to believe that all of America is represented by the conservatives....

I have an appointment with state rep Deb Wallace coming up and I have a whole host of questions to discuss with her.



As a family, we are facing some serious difficulties. Admittedly, I have made some poor choices in the past. Hooking up with a now ex wife, for example. However, making poor decisions is hardly a reason to keep a family in poverty.



As I understand it, the State of Washington will offer child care assistance to families when all of the adults are working. They will help if the adults are pursing a higher education. Sound good? Keep reading.



I contacted the state department of human services and spoke with an individual who shall remain nameless. She indicated that if Kelli was enrolled in a vocational school then she could be "forced" (her word) into employment because vo-techs are usually involved with employers. As Kelli is enrolled in Portland State pursing a double major in Psych and Biology the "State does not support education". Huh?



In its current state, the government of the State of Washington does not encourage, support or advocate individuals pursuing a higher education. Clearly this is designed to keep people poor.



FOOD STAMPS: The State has a cap of $1861 on a family of three. In other words, a family of three can only make a gross monthly income of $1861 before they are disqualified for food stamps. Milton Friedman would love this. The cost of fuel to get to work and school is about $40 a week. The light bill is $100. Internet service (which is completely necessary for education) is $40/month. Cable is $40/month. Food is at least $100/week. Water, (why do we pay for water anyway??? This is the subject of a soon upcoming blog) is $60, $60 a month.

The state has to realize that individuals as a whole don't want to live on subsidies from the government, however, when the wealth is concentrated with such a small minority of people it creates real problems for the rest of us. College education is absolutely necessary in the US to get a good paying job. The bachelor degree has become the new high school diploma. Good paying blue collar jobs in manufacturing are largely a thing of the past in the US as a direct result of a free market economy.

I am not against a market economy, however, doing all for profit that may include destroying families in the US and exploiting families in other countries solely for the gain of American companies and profits is just plain wrong. Even Halliburton doesn't have its corporate headquarters in the US. It just makes money off the backs of others and then ships it elsewhere. Such as the continent of Africa. The Western powers have kept it poor and destitute by exploiting its people and resources and shipping all of the gains to the West. Like Talib Kweli says "every dollar leaves the neighborhood as soon as we make it." Everyone should watch "Blood Diamonds" both the movie with DiCaprio as well as the documentary.

I gotta go to work.

Image courtesy of levpac.org

DEMOCRATIC DEBATE #19 SAN ANTONE TEJAS

I really like the points that Obama is bringing our in regards to health care, etc. I feel like I can relate to him.

LONG TIME

It's been a while since I posted last. Lots of water under the bridge if you will...I'm watching this election with nail biting edge-of your-seat type of stuff..Obama has racked up 11 wins. I'm excited about his candidacy and possible Presidency.

So Fidel has resigned. And still the US cannot sem to fathom that Cuba is filled with men, women and childeren that have nothing to do with the government. Still our "christian" nation tries to starve out an entire nation to prove a point, and largely because the gov't is pissed that Fidel has been able to thumb his nose and that of his country's for the past 50 years...Nice, and it gives me hope and inspiration that the US gov't is not as big and all powerful that it thinks it is...I really want to take on the arrogance of our elected officials, and call them on their behavior.

Not to mention the treaties with the Indigenous Peoples of this continent. I want to force the government to honor that which it committed itself to. Why should I comply to anything to government "orders" me to do, as the history of the US government honoring anything it has committed to in the past, as well as the individuals' elected, that is most do not...is absolutely abysmal...we'll see what happens next month when the "court is going to expect me to stand befor it and explain why I have not done community service as I agreed to. Sound familiar US government? I'll definetly lawyer up, and maybe print off all of the treaties and judgements and agreements the US Government has defaulted on. This is only precedence and should be honored. Philosphically, I should not be held to any agreement I have made with the gov't or any of its agents.

This nation should think about such things before it decides to colonialize the planet. However, the US has been doing this since before the British Empire collapsed.

DOWN WITH TYRANNY!!! :-)

CORRUPT COPS ETC

So that piece of shit cop, standard is accused of killing his wife. This is not an anomaly. Cops are corrupt, hateful individuals(not u paul) that attempt to maintain the status quo. Ask Ken Boss Hogg Johnson and Bernie Meyer, a liar, a charlatan, and a fraud. That is our Fairview PD, Fairview, OR, 97024. And...Mike Shrunck, a DA a la Nifong...'nuff said

WATCHING CNN AND THINKING

I'm thinking about why the US Congress would work on passing a resolution that condem Turkeys actions a hundred years ago. Now seems to be the time that this Congress should have on their plate health care. Homeless issues. I watched a CNN report today that related homeless figures. Currently, 25% of homeless in the US are veterans with more and more being vets of Afghanistan and Iraq. I just don't get it. The US is so damn rich...and greedy. I am ready to leave this cuntry. If I got sick or my family got sick for real...what would we do? There are companies that get paid to let people die...they're called insurance companies. They ought to be held criminally responsible for their actions...death to this system in the US...

GENARLOW WILSON

They finally got one thing right by letting this young man out of prison. The fact that he had to go to jail in the first place is ridiculous. It is a throwback of the christian right (who, incidently, runs the South in the United States right now), that wants to legislate morality in all points in your life. These ppl's ancestors were slave owners, adulterers, fornicator etc., in their wn right. It is time for the government to get out of my home, your home, out of our lives. This government has become incredibly intrusive on all points of life. We need a systemic change in the United States.

Peace-

Mike

10 YEARS FOR A BLOW JOB WTF????

Prosecutors in the US have gotten out of control. This young man, Genarlow Wilson was 17 when he got a b.j. from a 15 y/o girl. She said it was consensual. Prosecutors didn't care, they went after this young man like bears. This is happening in Georgia. The outdated law was changed, Wilson wan an appeal when a higher court overturned his conviction, and the prosecutors appealed it. The case went to the state sup. crt, and he is being released. The Court ordered them to release him.

The problem is with the prosecutors. Overzealous, agenda driven prosecutors. I want to go after people like that. People like Mike Nifong the piece of shit loser from North Carolina. We have a pile of trash like that here in Multnomah County, Oregon. His name is Michael Schrunk, and according to his website has been the D.A. since 1981.

WHAT THE FUCK?!?

That is entirely too much time to spend in that position. As one Georgia lawmaker put it so well, "Sometimes we need to protect kids from District Attorneys." This is in reference to a proposed law putting some limitations on D.A's

I really want to make a difference and shut DA's sown that prove themselves to be overzealous. These people ruin others lives and fuck with ppl over the very same things they do. It is time for systemic change in this country it has gotten so damn corrupt.

Fortunately DA's are elected. unfortunately when you have ppl in office for 26 years they have an opportunity to build massive bank accounts, set up tons of perks, and generally become corrupt, self-serving and they begin to believe they are entitled to their position.I say fuck em all, throw all da bums out...

COLLEGE AND STUFF

So I'm finally going to take my ACT test and formally enroll in the University. I've been going for the last couple of terms, but I've never taken the ACT, and I'm not formally enrolled, so I can't get financial aid. Another issue in the richest country on the fucking planet. 12 million dollars an hour in Iraq and we have people living on the streets.



I remember a class I had when I was a kid, it must have bee in like 6th or 7th grade, I would have been 11 or so, and we were watching propaganda films from the Soviet Union that were against the US. The scene that stands out is a homeless dude sleeping on a bench and it was supposedly shot in middle America, Kansas or some shit, and the point the Soviets were trying to make was under capitalism you have people even in the heart of the country living in the streets with no place to go...and, the point they were making was their system is better. So to the point. My teacher, after showing us the film, gleefully pointed out that the scene couldn't have been shot in Kansas 'cause you can see the capitol building, ( in D.C.) in the background!!! We all got a good laugh about that. The point of all that is this: BY THIS TIME WE HAD FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT THE HOMELESS DUDE, IT TURNED INTO A BIG JOKE OVER HOW STUPID THE SOVIETS WERE.



This, my friends, is a large part of the problem...thank God, (or Apple) for our ipods so we don;t have to face these issues...like my professor Ridwan Laher said..."We gonna go to Starbucks and have a revolution over a latte" dude nailed it. Thank God for Starbucks and their pseudo-intellectualism, as well as their fake art on the walls...what a fucking joke.

RACE AND WHITE AMERICA

I've been reading Randall Robinson's The Debt: What America Owes To Blacks. It's very good and it provides insight to someone raised in a white family in white America that he would otherwise not have. Race is such a massive issue in this country, but whites in general want to sweep history under the rug.

I say-Get this shit out in the open!! Slavery must be recognized by our government. The rape of Africa by Europeans and their descendants must be acknowledged. The rape and pillage of the Native on this continent must be acknowledged as well.

I am formulating a proposal that I believe is reasonable that will begin to address these issues. To be posted soon...

I am thinking of a quote by Chris Rock I think, it was during a stand up routine and he was discussing race in the US and he led up to one question: When was the last time you saw a Native family eating at Denny's? The native has been systematically destroyed by the government of the United States. Genocide. By this government.

It must be acknowledged. It has to be addressed...

I read a quote in Robinson's book:

"Africa is having to pay a huge price once more for the historical accident that this vast and compact continent brought fabulous profits to western capitalism, first out of the trade in its people and then out of imperialist exploitation. This enrichment of one side of the world out of the exploitation of the other has left the African economy without the means to industrialise." -Kwame Nkrumah, Neo Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism

The west has stripped Africa of it's riches. Then the west stripped the peoples of Africa of their history, language, arts...an appalling statement I read in my text for my Black Studies course is one that spoke of the African not having a past, there is a term for it, but essentially states that African came here with a blank slate.

What? You think for one minute that if an individual is uprooted from their home that wipes out their memory of their home, homeland, language, culture, etc? How deep does white arrogance run?

You can see it in this country. The arrogance of the United States is a direct result of the arrogance of whites...

UNITARY EXECUTIVE POWERS

I THINK THE GOVERNMENT HAS REMOVED THE CHARMIN FROM THE BATHROOMS AND REPLACED IT WITH THIS:

Have you heard the term? Unitary Executive Powers. I've just come across it, which shows how much I get my news from the mainstream media. It is an interpretation by the Executive Branch of the US Govt that gives the president, in this case GW Bush, vastly larger powers than perhaps was intended by the framers of the Constitution. As I read earlier some in the Bush Administration believe the President has control over the military as he would have control over a veto or pardon and is not subject to reviewability [by an outside entity, such as congress].

I watched a couple of clips from the last Republican debate, and Mitt Romney actually went so far as to say he would consult his attorneys regarding the validity of going to war w/a specific country. Ron Paul freaked out and told him he was nuts, "all you have to do is open the Constitution and read you can't go to war without Congress' approval you ignorant jackass...'Paraphrased.

Tha point is, we have a bunch of dipshits running for office. We have a president that thinks the Executive Branch is not a branch of the government, but he believes he IS the executive branch.

Bush isn't the first. According to Wikipedia, in 1831 Andrew Jackson "refused to recognize a decision by the United States Supreme Court That exempted the Cherokee Nation from Georgia state law an recognized they had a right to self-government. The Judicial Branch was powerless to force Jackson to enforce their opinion." Much to the Cherokee Nations detriment. And, this set a precedent whereby other Native Tribes could be abused by the Executive Branch.

IT IS TIME FOR A SYSTEMIC CHANGE IN THE UNITED STATES.

I'M EXERCISING MY BRAIN

Regarding the brain pic, the blue part is the part that I soaked-no marinated-for the past five years in whiskey. I am so thankful for Kelli standing with me, and her determination regarding her studies...read on, friend...

I've medicated my brain for so long with alcohol that it rather hurts using it since I've put the whiskey bottle down. I want to become more of a thinker, a contemplator. Kelli tells me frequently that I am intelligent...she is a great woman...smart and determined. She thinks of linear mathematics as a language. I fumble around with my change...I'm bright on some things, but math has not always been my strongest...although thinking about that, I realize that that is a result of years of listening to that crap from the people that raised me...I heard nonsense that ranged from "you suck at math" to "you're going to get emphysema when you get old..." neither of which is true.

I will say that I am considerably more interested in social issues and injustice than I am researching or doing mathematical problems...I seriously think dialog is needed to address the very real problems our country faces as a result of privatization and the erosion of civil rights, as well as the growing hostility by the Government toward the People.

How the hell do I put pictures in places on this blog other than at the top???

"CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE F*CK WE ARE STILL DOIN IN IRAQ?" Katt Williams, "The Pimp Chronicles Vol. 1"

Katt said it all...in 2006. now the price tag is 12 million dollars an hour.

When Kell's mom died, she was denied access to her momma's funeral by her brother Samuel, the same piece of shit that broke into our home and tried to kill me on August 26, 2000. Well, we're on our way back from Arkansas, and we stopped at a motel on Ogden, Utah. We had a bit of whiskey, and we scraped our pipe, let me tell you, we needed a good buzz after the hell we had gone thru. We ended up putting 4,000+ miles on the car in 6 days between Northwest Arkansas and Portland. But we stopped at this hotel, and flipping thru the channels with a buzz coming on nicely, we stumbled across Katt doin his thing on HBO...it was awesome, and just what was necessary for us...It may sound corny and shit, but I'll always be grateful that Katt's special was on, Kelli was going thru such a horrible time with the abuse of her pile of crap kinfolk, it just was really needed...Katt Williams is a funny motherfucker. We also started on a screenplay at that hotel, and we've talked about going back to work on it. Utah is a pretty state, when you're rollin thru...and seriously the scenery is quite awe-inspiring. The mountains and canyons are amazing rolling down I-80 after the almost 400 mile nightmare that is Wyoming. After driving from Cheyenne, Wy to Evanston, Wy your ass is sooo ready to stop and take a damn shower, and eat and drink and hit some bizzudd...Peace tonight dear friends...

Thanks to Katt and his style...