What is the state of the economy? Repression? Depression? Upswing? Down swing? According to this article... We have a War Economy. Not a "manufacturing" economy. Not an "agricultural" economy. Nor a "service" economy. Not even a "consumer" economy. Forget the free market, forget capitalism... this economy, our nation, is very deep in a war mindset and everything that comes out of it is related to war. It's been that way for a long time, Smedley Butler warned us about it in 1934, when he wrote War is a Racket. We have known about the Military Industrial Complex for quite some time as well. Continue reading...
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For those old enough to remember, we were once engaged in a "cold war" with Russia (then - in combination with other countries such as Georgia - known as the USSR). There were no missiles fired, no battlefields but for those of ideology and politics. The division between East and West was referred to as the Iron Curtain, coined by Goebbels, popularized by Churchill, and symbolized by the Berlin Wall. When the wall fell about 29 years ago, it was cause for worldwide celebration. One of the darkest symbols of the cold war was the constant threat of nuclear anihilation. There was a constant tit-for-tat build-up on both sides creating an enormous military-industrial complex that was always coming out with newer better missiles, bombers, and fighters. Russia finally blinked (financially) and the rest is history. This - and the war in Afghanistan - broke Russia's back and bank. The iron curtain was maintained by a paranoid political machine in defense of its ideology, and reinforced with brutality and fear. It's demise brought hope for a kinder, gentler world where people could disagree with their (or other) governments and not worry about retribution. When the curtain fell, however, the curtain rod remained behind, and now it seems that the U.S. is trying to create a new set of drapes to hang there. This time, things are different.
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Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec
Date: 08/19/2008 10:26:33
Good Morning. Today is our 1,980th day in Iraq. We'll start this morning as we always do, with the latest casualty figures from the warron terra, courtesy of antiwar.com:American Deaths Since war began (3/19/03): 4144 Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4005 Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3683 Since Handover (6/29/04): 3285 Since Election (1/31/05): 2707 Other Coalition Troops: 314 US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 574 Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 348 Contractor Deaths: 444 We find this morning's cost of war passing through: $ 546,663,200,000.00 Cutting right to the chase, we'll start this morning in Afghanistan. Once again, another US military installation has come under attack.Continue reading...
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Random Numbers Blog
Author: Random
Date: 08/18/2008 09:19:06
Now, I’ve spent the last few weeks…days…hours…trying to figure out how best to use all the data I’ve been collecting and use it to practical purposes. It finally occurred to me, I am going to dispel some myths about the current campaign and how well someone may have done, and how poorly another one would do. First, I’ll discuss what is talked about, ad nauseum, by the media. And that is, Obama and McCain are in a close race. Of course, how can you blame them, in a culture that loves the 5 second sound bite, who has time to listen to in-depth analysis of state-by-state polls? Hell, some states haven’t had a proper poll since February. So, if we were to look at what National polls say… 
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Sunday Review
Author: velveeta jones
Date: 08/17/2008 12:28:06
Apologies that today's blog may be a tad short and slightly incoherent. It may not matter to ya'll, as I’m assuming that most of you played the "John McCain ' my friends'" drinking game, so you'll still be in bed, the hospital, or in an alcoholic blackout. Let's revisit a couple of stories that may have been missed this week, shall we? Especially those few that were not, nor will not, be picked up by the "main $tream media". George "Gilligan" bush's Pastor, the guy that refused non-Christians to attend the coronation of bush in 2001, has actually come out against John McCain! Well, that's weird. Seems McCain may not be "moral" enough. Also seems, the proverbial "straw" was the fact that McCain offered his wife up to dance nekkid at Sturgis.The Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church was the pastor that gave the official benedictions at Bush's inauguration in 2001 and 2005. More recently, he presided over Jenna Bush's wedding ceremony. I'm not sure if he allowed non-Christians at the wedding, but he previously convinced our pResident to exclude them at the benedictions. In a conference call interview he had this to say about Mr. McCain:
"Well, I don't know a lot about John McCain's family history, I do know, however, that as recently as last week I think it was, the Senator made a comment in South Dakota regarding his wife entering some Buffalo Chips contest which is this topless deal and if she were to enter she would probably win it and my personal opinion and based on my understanding of the Christian faith, that's not not, N-O-T, not the type of expression that a presidential candidate, or anyone for that matter who is a follower of the Christian faith, ought to make," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell. "I don't know if that is a perfect case in point, but it surely does help to juxtapose the DNA of Senator Obama, if you would, versus the DNA of Senator McCain."
But wait, it get weirder. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers responded to Caldwell's criticism with this:
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Good Morning. It's August....but next month is September, and you know what that means. For weeks now, I've been seeing a highly irritating commercial hawking a "Silver Leaf Commemorative" for the anniversary of 9-11. Never mind that it's so tacky that if it was a sailboat, we'd be pulling 12 knots with the wind two points off the bow...  Let's go through the breathless copy point by point, shall we?
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To Your Health
Author: BobR
Date: 08/15/2008 12:25:10
Diverting from politics (for the most part), there are some promising developments in the health arena that warrant some attention. Three diseases - all with a relationship to the auto-immune system - are being targeted with new discoveries and developments in medicine. Will we see cures for AIDS, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis in our lifetime? Cancer - the Big C - has always been a devastating disease, since it can attack nearly any organ in the human body. Most treatments involve a drug that kills fast growing cells. However, since hair and intestines have fast growing cells, these treatments cause hair loss and nausea, and aren't 100% effective. A new treatment plan uses the body's auto-immune system to attack the cells: Continue reading...
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Uncivil Actions
Author: clintster
Date: 08/14/2008 12:02:54
Back in the year 1996, Al Franken wrote a book entitled “Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot: And Other Observations” When it was released, many right wingers, including the very prominently named Mr. Limbaugh decried it as an attack and a smear campaign. Were one to read the book, however, the reader would find that in and amongst the many jokes about Rush’s weight, his several divorces, and his out and out lies, that Franken was in fact attempting to throw a satirical light upon what was quickly becoming standard operating procedure for the right wing: building liberal straw-men to knock down at will. Indeed, Franken mentioned in many interviews that his book was not so much about making jokes at Limbaugh’s expense as it was about bemoaning the loss of civility in public discourse. Increasingly, especially amongst conservatives, it seemed that one had to pass an ideological purity test in order to be considered “one of us”. Those who harbored different opinions on one or two subjects were immediately looked upon as “unclean” and cast aside. In his own way, Al Franken may have hoped to mend that rift in civility and bring some sort of common sense back to political discourse. Unfortunately, it seems as if the body politic has taken those sutures and torn them asunder for the sake of convenience.
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Out of Touch
Author: BobR
Date: 08/13/2008 12:01:33
I am at a loss... literally. I've been feeling a bit out of touch lately, not really feeling like I have a grasp on the current events. I poked around trying to find something that intrigued me enough to inspire verbosity and eloquence. Instead, I found story after story that made me wonder: what the hell is going in my country?
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Ask A Vet
Author: TriSec
Date: 08/12/2008 11:02:13
Good Morning. Today is our 1,973rd day in Iraq. We'll start this morning as we always do, with the latest casualty figures in the warron terra, courtesy of Antiwar.com:American Deaths Since war began (3/19/03): 4139 Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4000 Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3678 Since Handover (6/29/04): 3280 Since Election (1/31/05): 2702 Other Coalition Troops: 314 US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 572 Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 344 Contractor Deaths: 444 We find this morning's Cost of War passing through: $544,703,950,000.00 This week, I have run across an open letter from Iraq Veterans Against the War to Senator Obama. They'd like to meet with him in Denver during the week of the convention and have many issues addressed. There's no word from the Obama camp if he'll accept the meeting, but it's worth reading.
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