The growing kleptocracy

The more I read about such places as Azerbaijan,Romania,,Saddam's Iraq and various Central Asian Republics, the more I am beginning to understand what a kleptocracy is. Its what's beginning to happen to America. In Azerbaijan, you had to pay off the Aliyev family to do business. Haidar Aliyev auctioned off nation assets to make money. Thats just what the privatization means for our neocon friends. And what they sell off goes to 'family";Ie Halliburton/Cheney kinds of deals. That's why they're so afraid of government controls. They'll lose money. Halliburton et al, is rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure poorly and cheaply while making billions and the American infrastructure is rotting. You make more money on an government no bid contract and even more by using the cheapest materials. More money than you'd make, say, by rebuilding the World Trade Center in NY or New Orleans. They use American tax dollars as a means of making obscene profits rather than using it to help the people that pay the money. Enough money to buy legislators and still make obscene profits.
That,my friends, is a kleptocracy and it is so well developed that even the President of the US can't find a away around it. Congress and the executive branch are owned by lobbies who bribe them with gifts, cash and make campaign contributions. You can't get elected to national office without a lot of money and the lobbies have it.
It will only get worse as will the divide between rich and poor. That's what the American conservative middle class doesn't understand, that they are on the losing side of the divide. If the neocons won't pump money into their own country, if they want to end entitlements like social security,if they won't vote for extending unemployment benefits is a recession, etc, they don't give a damned about America. They're already planning to move to Dubai.

An American apocalypse

Even with Barak Obama as president and a democratic congress, my local VA hospital does not yet have H1N1 vaccine, yet Walgreen's happily has it for SALE. The capitalist greed wins even during a liberal administration. Health care and environmental issues that will be passed will be so watered down as to be ineffective. The dems will settle for a healthcare bill that cares for no ones health. Insurance companies have spent millions to stop it. The system has broken. It no longer represents the will of the people, it represents, no matter what party, the will of corporate America.
Corporate America has already shown its utter irresponsibility and greed by precipitating what is now being called the "Great Recession" Jobs lost, savings lost,fat cats bailed out. American government in action. Rebuild Iraq(with shoddy materials) and ignore New Orleans. The military shares its bailiwick with Blackwater, Halliburton(or a subsidiary) gets most no bid contracts. Obama can't impliment his vision. Our America is gone. Sold,bought and paid for. Religion has degenerated into hate, salvation forgotten. Jesus' love and peace has morphed into a Neo Aryan creed of supremacy. And those supremacists know if they don,t get total control soon, birthrates will deprive them of a nation.
What's going to happen? Since the fat cats can't control their greed, they'll bleed us dry. Already infrastructures are crumbling and why rebuild them? They'll just use the same shoddy materials their using in Iraq. The working poor will lose more jobs to India or Malaysia and as government reigns in entitlements like social security, they will starve. Who cares, they are disposible, non contributors,parasites. Parasites we create more of everyday. Formerly America's proud and strong working class, they are reduced to discontented haters of everything, thanks to the twists that been added to Christianity in America. Hate is preached from the pulpit. Corporate America is concerned with oil, not this nation. Without oil, they collapse and no one seems to be inventing a new energy too quick.
The image I get of America in 10 or 15 years, is beginning to resemble the sates and satellites of the former Soviet Union in the late 80's and early 90's. Perhaps America's strength will cause it to survive,perhaps the working poor will abandon their slavish pursuit of republican ideals, perhaps a leader will emerge to save America from a third world scrape heap. Of course, he'll have to be a dictator.

A disposable population

Now i know why I'm not an increase in my social security check this year! Even though there is an economic problem and i am retired senior citizen and Vietnam veteran, my government has a better way to spend my money. Cash awards will be given to Taliban fighters who desert their cause! Now an old Afghani saying goes," You can rent an Afghan, but you can't buy one." Does our stupid government believe these people will change their belief systems for a little of my cash? Oh they'll take the money, buy some more AK-47's or semex for IED's and continue as usual. Perhaps, in order to make ends meet, I should don a turban and carry an AK and head for the nearest federal building to get my cash. Of course, they'll lock me up and throw the key way and invent some heinous plot I was involved it to blow up the local Mickey D's. On top of that insult, the Veterans Administration, suffering from a severe shortage of H1N1 vaccine, has told me i am not a priority patient. i am 64 years old with a heart condition, and am a wounded combat veteran, but appartently the criteria for getting the vaccine seems to be that you have to be young, between 5 and 18. Not that I see a whole lot of 5 year old veterans at my local VA.
I voted for Obama, and any of you who read this blog know I supported his candidacy. Now, i am beginning to think its all talk and no action. Either the military industrail complex owns so much of the American government, that it is impossible to get around their politician buying power, or Obama, while a brilliant man with a vision is, perhaps, unable to choose the right people for the job. So we get a very watered down environmental bill and probably a health care bill that does little besides write heath care on a piece of paper.
Look at New Orleans, still a disaster area. No one wants to spend money on people who aren't rich and influencial. Big corporations want the lower 9th ward for high priced industrial areas. So, insurance opts out of paying them and big corporations steal their land at bargain basement prices. Business as usual, no matter what the party.
I am just a member of a disposable class of people my government doesn't give a shit about anymore. Sad.

Obama's Nobel Prize

Congratulations to Pres. Obama on his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize! Even if half of America is going to be whining about this, the world shows recognition to a man who may well go down as one of the greats of the 21st century. Of course the American right is going to jump on this, they'll have all manner of reasons of why this man doesn't deserve the prize. Rather than being flushed with pride that this AMERICAN has won, they'll dissolve into the usual racist rhetoric that has been the standard of these "patriots" Patriots , like the ones in Brasil wuld be proud if their nation won an Olympic host, the right celebrated that we did not win it. The cause of the nation has become subservient to the cause of making Obama's presidency a failure. However Obama seems to overcome this criticism well. Perhaps the honor and the humility of this prize will further his desires for peace, especially in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Perhaps world leader will look upon his words with more gravity and action. And perhaps Osama bin Laden and Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck will once again find themselves in agreement.

Prediction: Israel will bomb Iran's nuke sites

It has been quite a week for rhetoric at both the UN and the G20. Netanyahu was more bombastic than Qaddafi,Ahmadinejad or Chavez. At G20 America, Britain and France united to condemn Iran in the strongest terms. Seems to me that is tacit permission for Netanyahu to unleash his jets. Once again Iran is the axis of evil. Both Qaddafi and Chavez actually made some sense(if you listened) So did Ahmadinejad(a little) The third world is fed up with western imperialism and exploitation. The third world is fed up with letting some nations possess nukes and not others. Holding the nukes guarantees world domination. Why not everyone get rid of them.
Regarding Ahmadinejad's ridiculous denial of the Holocaust, Chavez brought up Western civilizations denial of the Native American holocaust. Good point Hugo, and what of slavery?
Obama clearly sees what needs to change in America, but many Americans don't agree with change. Conservatism spells stagnation, always has, always will. Global warming will happen, oil will run out, capitalism will succumb to greed and like many times in history(1815,1914,1945 come to mind) a new world order will emerge. Somehow I doubt if the new world order will be any different from any of the others.
Only Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama stand above all this rhetoric

A letter to K

K.Well ya know i was at woodstock back in '69 Honeymoon camping across the country. We never planned to go, just heard about it on the radio and swept down from Ontario. Figured it was gonna be be an Event. And so it was. I was watching the Michael Wadleigh 1970 documentary and was over whelmed. One of the guys i am doing EMT with was there too and we've swapped tales. Is 40 yrs ago and been on mind. What an explosive time, time of awareness, spirituality and love. Great music, some of the best ever where music carried the revolution. There was the war and a country fed up with it, there was civil rights, a war on poverty, anew direction in spirituality, which Amerika lacked. Political,social, spiritual awareness floating on love.
What happened?Today I see hatred, racism, religious demagogery, and above all greed. Theres are war, no one gives a fuck. They don't even want to give people health care, hordes live in the streets and the only music I hear is the cash register.
We captured something in 69...... and lost it. We lost it to greed. Corporate amerika bought hip america and sold it. Back to us. Musicians, pop culturalists,and just plain stoned out heads made lots of money and the ideals went out as the cash came in.
I wanna say, what about your generation??? Where the fuck are you all at??
But is it perspective? Maybe these times are just as exciting for you as for me back in 69. Maybe its not the era but the age. maybe all we did is experience youth. Maybe every generation has its woodstock and vietnam. maybe some artist I don't know addresses injustice in song like Ritchie Havens. maybe it just youth, but whatever it was great!
Namaste

Conservative blueprint for America

While Obama struggles to get Americans basic health care and do his part to slow down global warming, conservatives spew forth hate that motivates America's under educated pop culture drunk populace. They might wish for the following scenario.
2012.... Rush Limbaugh is elected President, Sean Hannity as VP . Ann Coulter becomes secratary of defense, Pat Robertson enters the new office of secretary of Christian Morality. Legislation is passed to severely limit the congress and supreme court and laws come forth to regulate America.
All restrictions on carbon emissions are suspended as global warming is ruled a hoax.(Pres. Limbaugh now rides around in an armored Hummer) Coal is king and burnt without cleansing. Non Christians are deported to "religious education camps" Blacks are relegated to second class citzens with travel and work restrictions. All Hispanics are deported to the nation of familial origin. Mexico is invaded and subdued and managed to provide slave labor to boost American production. Islam is declared The Enemy and nuclear technology is used to blow Afghanistan and Pakistan off the map. Saudi Arabia is invaded and the oil industry nationized and run by Halliburton, with Dick Cheney acting as energy czar. While Middle America basks in the joys of Christian patriotism and cheap energy, China calls in her debts leading to another nuclear war intended to wipe China(and Russia) off the map.
Of course we know how this senario will end, Rush will commit suicide in the Fuhrer bunker located beneath the White House.
Go ahead, America, believe the conservative lies, you want to anyway return to 1956 but when its over America will rank below Burkina Faso in GNP.