Let's Connect the Dots - Part 6

By 2008, Americans were tired and repulsed by the fact that our taxes were financing an aggressive military empire.

So, Americans elected Barrack Obama by a landslide in 2008. And good thing it was a landslide, because an MIT estimate found that four to five million voters were disenfranchised (which is roughly the same number as in the 2000 election). But this estimate only counted those who had trouble registering or failed to receive absentee ballots. There were also numerous situations where there were extremely long lines only at Democratic precincts. And there were also numerous reports of Democratic voters watching their votes flip to Republican candidates on suspect voting machines. (But of course, if you only listened to “conservative” media pundits, you wouldn't know a thing about the 2008 effort to disenfranchise Democrats.)

What's worse, the disenfranchisement continues. Since the “Supreme” Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, new voter laws make it more difficult to vote – for minorities, of course.

It's obvious that the people in power in this country don't want there to be a true democracy. And if they weren't so damn irresponsible, the rest of us probably wouldn't really care. But it appears that every chance the oligarchy gets to take advantage of the rest of us, someone from the oligarchy takes that chance. And now our government is so corrupt that it literally faces decay to the point of self destruction. Our system is rotting from the inside out. Face it; America's elections have become auctions, and those who contribute the most money are those who want the dirtiest deeds. The remnants of our democratic system are barely holding up. The pillagers already control far too much. This should be obvious; our tax dollars are wasted, our legal protections are gone, our jobs have been exported, and we can't fully trust anything they tell us on TV.

The reality is; our government has been partially shut down now for eight years.

The Republicans have been misusing the filibuster to essentially shut down the Senate since the Democrats won the House back in 2006. It even got to the point that Republicans publicly announced their intention to filibuster all of President Obama's nominees to the DC Circuit Court simply because they didn't want a Democratic President to be able to fill any more vacancies. Apparently, the strategy of Republicans has become to cheat as much as possible in the elections – and if they lose – shut the government down until they can cheat enough to win again – and to do whatever they can to stack the judicial arm of government.

And who benefits? Definitely not the American people. Obstruction of our democracy means a less functional system for all of us. It means our tax dollars get wasted. It means the rich get richer, at the expense of the rest of us. It means laws remain oppressive for the little guy, while the big monopolies can get away with almost anything. It means our environment teeters closer and closer to total environmental collapse so the takers can have more. The big business piranhas are feasting... now. But who really benefits in the long run? Nobody. No one truly benefits in the long run when our nation, our civilization, and (most importantly) our environment cease to function properly.

Unfortunately, even America's near future doesn't look all that great. And why? Because we're not all on the same team anymore. Not everyone cares if America loses. The multinational corporations have been selling us out for decades now – by exporting jobs to places where people work for slave wages, so they can now sell to the world. Of course, that drives American wages towards slave wages. The rich have been hiding their monetary wealth in foreign banks so that they won't have to pay income taxes. That leaves our government unable to provide all but minimal public services. The greedy have been manipulating our laws so that they can “maximize their profits.” But this ultimately leads to laws that don't protect us.

Some prominent Republicans have publicly stated that they want President Obama to fail. But that implies that they want America to fail. What? Let's think about this. There may be powerful “Americans” who want America to fail.

We have a recent example of what our near future may look like; the fall of the Soviet Union. America too has overspent on military programs. America too has a disgruntled populous. America too has an ailing economy. And someday America may have a Gorbachev. From what I can tell, Gorbachev wanted to create a fairer socialist state that treated its citizens with more respect than Soviet communism. It appeared that Gorbachev wanted to help the little guy. And of course, those in power didn't want to share. (Doesn't this sound a little like Obama's situation?) The powerful in the Soviet Union apparently lost faith in their system of oppression when Gorbachev wanted to stop oppressing. So they just allowed the country to collapse. Of course, the common people were so accustomed to the Soviet system of oppression that they wanted out too. The Soviet people assumed that less (Soviet) government was a good idea. And obviously, that didn't work out... at least not for the people. But it did for Vladimir Putin.

We have to expect that somebody in the American intelligence community has noticed that Vladimir Putin, formerly with the KGB, is now one of the richest people on the planet. There very likely are some “patriotic Americans” in our intelligence community who are not afraid of America collapsing. In fact, they may be secretly hoping for America to collapse – so that they can swoop in and take over. Americans now have to expect that there are people in power who not only don't mind if America goes away, they might even profit from it. And by now, we should all realize that not everybody in America wants a democratic republic.

Can President Obama stop this progression of a corporate police state? It doesn't look like it. Maybe he doesn't want to. But when one looks into Barrack Obama's history, the promises he made as a candidate still feel true to his personality. Barrack Obama wasn't born into a life of privilege. He didn't move up through the ranks of the CIA. As a Democrat, he didn't totally sell out to the military/industrial complex. And of being mixed blood, he doesn't have the option of being racist (unlike so many of the bigoted people who mindlessly oppose him).

When I heard the Obama “ENOUGH!” campaign speech; it felt heartfelt. I still believe candidate Obama wanted to fix the overwhelming corruption that strangles Washington DC. But when we elected him President, all of a sudden he sounded so much more conciliatory. Maybe candidate Obama didn't know how much power the secret government actually has. And if he didn't know, then neither did we.

In the past 50 years, America's intelligence community has changed profoundly. President Harry Truman may have started the CIA to collect information, but it wasn't long before the CIA was used to violently meddle in other nations' affairs. By the time President Kennedy was in office, Allen Dulles (then head of the CIA) believed he could manipulate the President of the United States, against his will, to invade a sovereign nation – Cuba. When President Kennedy was assassinated, rouge members of the CIA were suspected as participating and/or complicit in the cover-up. And from time to time, we hear of reports of CIA planes crashing with cargoes full of drugs. However, for the most part, the CIA has been known to patriotically follow the orders of the President. The NSA, however, might not fall in line as the CIA has.

Initially, the NSA's job was to collect information also. But for decades now, it is very likely that the NSA has been spying on people who could make them very rich and powerful. It is very likely they have collected insider information on the stock market. We know the NSA has spied on Barrack Obama. We know that the NSA has likely spied on members of the House and Senate. We know that the NSA has spied on foreign leaders. And we know that the NSA has spied on Americans. We now know that even President Obama doesn't know what the NSA is up to. And we now know we can't trust the NSA. Combine this with the fact that much intelligence work has been privatized; and we have a recipe for absolute corruption.

Long before the CIA and the NSA existed, it is well known that America's military often functioned as the “big stick” for big business. Now, after privatization, a part of America's intelligence community actually is big business. Which means the incentive to follow the money is sometimes greater than the incentive to follow the President.

And of course, we still have to be concerned about rouge agents. What's to keep them from selling insider information about Wall Street? What's to keep them from making up names of terrorists to make more money? What's to keep them from blackmailing our elected leaders? What's to keep them from planning the demise of our democracy so that they can eventually rule? And how do we know they aren't already up to these things?

President Obama has spoke in favor of the NSA. President Obama has even instituted only minor changes to what are Constitutionally illegal NSA practices. However, it is quite likely he has done so out of fear.

I know that If I were President, and I found out that I was being blackmailed... If I found out that if I stepped out of line; they might kill me and my family, and then get richer chasing “terrorists” instead of the perpetrators... If I found out that they could crash the economy and just use everyone's misfortune to buy up assets at yard sale prices... If I found out that if America were to collapse, they would just step in as the new leaders... If I found out that the only option they had left me was to kick the can down the road; then I guess I would just kick the can down the road too.

Even though the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are winding down, and austerity is the focus of most American politicians today; military spending hasn't dropped. This tells you who's in power.

But President Obama isn't powerless. I suspect he just doesn't want to stick his neck out. And why should he if we, the people, won't.

Democracies require citizen participation. If everyone sits back and allows a few people control, then we deserve what we get. Remember the quote from Thomas Jefferson; “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Democracies are not a spectator sport. Somebody is always trying to take advantage of us. That's life. Consequently, if we are not motivated to keep our Democracy functional, fate will determine that we do not deserve liberty. And no one, not even the President of the United States can save our Democracy for us. Voting is not enough.

Continue to Part 7

Let's Connect the Dots - Part 7

I realize that I have covered a lot of subjects here. My critics will probably call this rambling. But history doesn't stay on one subject. And I do have a point: 

 

If you put all of the “dots” I have set here for you together, a pattern forms. The pattern I see is combination of growing military/industrial power, growing monopoly power, growing multinational corporate power, and what are essentially insider attacks on democracy – which have led to systematic corruption that could ultimately lead to the collapse of America's democracy, economy, and even viability. In fact, it is quite arguable that this trend is already past a tipping point. The Party that used to fight back, the Democrats, are now unwilling (and likely afraid) to speak up. That leaves Americans with no options to fix things other than to find ways to fix them ourselves.

The good news is that sometimes things have to get bad enough for us to do something. This systematic corruption could be the inspiration to create a much more functional system. This hideous mess now forces us to create a system even more democratic and responsible than even the founding fathers of our nation dared to consider.

Imagine a system of operating our nation (and the world) that actually functions to the benefit of all – including the environment. And all we have to do to obtain this better way of doing things is to refocus on what we really want. Of course, to achieve this we will have to figure out how to limit the unwarranted power of the greedy, back-stabbing, short-sighted, monopoly playing fools who's goal is to make us all victims of their get-rich-quick schemes. But there is hope. Even the pillagers might have a moment of common sense when faced with self-destruction from the consequences of their actions.

Our goals in life should not be to; treat our employees like slaves, treat our customers like addicts, treat our investors like suckers, treat the environment like a limitless credit card, and treat those who want to fix things like the enemy. Success should be healthy, maximize true happiness, and long-term.

Yet our predicament is obvious:

In order to fix anything, we are going to be tasked to fix everything...

So, what do we do?

For decades now, Americans have known that money is the root of all evil in politics. We have to get big money out of politics if we ever hope to end up with a functional government. But we should know by now that our elected (by big money) politicians are never going to do that for us. Which means we can't sit around and wait for somebody else to fix this for us.

Ironically, we have always had the power to get money out of politics. In fact, we voters could get the money out of politics in the very next election, if we worked together on it. All we have to do is not vote for candidates that have been backed by big money. And if we all do that, money won't matter in politics.

If you don't like bought and paid for candidates, then don't vote for them. In almost every election in this country, there are candidates who are honest and just – and they don't get elected because they won't sell out – and they don't get noticed. Vote for them. Find the candidate that supports the issues you agree with most and vote for that candidate – no matter what Party they are – no matter if you didn't hear about them on TV. In fact, the candidates you hear about on TV are the ones you don't want to vote for – they're the ones with the money to pay for the ads.

The mass media is getting filthy rich feeding us junk-food politics. We know that. We know they ignore the best candidates. We know they're not telling the whole truth. We know that sometimes they even lie to us (big time). So, why do we continue to act as though we believe their junk-food politics stories? Because everybody else seems to. But they don't. Americans are being herded like sheep to the slaughter, when we have the power to change things – if we work together.

Even if we don't agree on who we want to elect, we can agree on who we don't want – sell outs.

Face it, voting for the candidate with the most money is just passively accepting your slave status. All we have to do is think outside of the (squawk) box. All we have to do is ignore those attack ads on TV. All we have to do is ignore those mass media commentaries.

All we have to do is together not vote for the sell outs.

And what would we want our ideal candidates to do?

Getting rid of those plutocracy rules I mentioned earlier would make a significant difference. Reform of our mass media “news” would help immensely. Independent investigations of the possible conspiracies I've mentioned would help us know where we really stand. And sending a handful of the worst perpetrators to prison would have a chilling effect on most of the corruption we just put up with now.

Speaking of prisons; Americans need to fire the corporate prisons. They are the worst example of privatization of government functions we commonly see. The incentives are backwards. Prisons should want to keep as many people out of prison as possible. But because of the profit motive, private prisons see each body behind bars as $40,000 to $50,000 profit. Privatized prisons are even becoming a new form of slavery.

Privatization has been a terrible idea for most Americans – except those who profit from the privatized government functions – and our tax money. Costs are not lower – there is no incentive to lower costs to taxpayers. Services are commonly worse – because government oversight is gone. And with privatized spies and mercenaries, patriotism takes a back seat to profits.

We are being used! Our taxes are being stolen! A portion of our incomes are being taken away from us against our will to enrich others. This essentially defines us as free range slaves. We need to take back America from the profiteers. Sustaining income streams should not be more important than actual sustainability – especially when it's our money they're wasting! If we could eliminate corruption in American government; our taxes would be lower, our government services would be everywhere, our military would be invincible, our public health would be amazing, and our future wouldn't look nearly as desperate.

But for now; our taxes are even being used to poison us. Think about it; that's just what subsidies to the fossil fuel industry end up doing.

We need to break the grip of the fossil fuel companies. Since 1976, America has spent eight trillion dollars “protecting” middle Eastern oil. And that's our money, not the oil companies'. (Moreover, had we spent that money on renewable energy, we wouldn't have needed most of the oil.) Worse, nations all over the world have been giving fossil fuels a multi-trillion dollar unfair advantage in the market with all the subsidies and tax breaks they give. Astonishingly; America has recently cut subsidies for wind power and left subsidies for fossil fuels intact. This has only worsened the problem of multi-national corporations' monopoly like control over critical industries and corruption of our government. On top of all of this, there is the massive damage being done to our environment which will cost trillions to deal with.

There is one more extremely important thing we can do. Stay out of wars! America now has the most formidable military ever in history – by a wide margin. Americans need to realize that no war we get into now is going to be a war of “defense.” And moreover, it would be far less expensive to treat our “enemies” with respect than spending trillions to oppress them.

But this isn't just about what could happen. This is also about what has happened. Let's consider the outcomes of America's wars of the last 50 years. The war in Vietnam ended in failure. Vietnam ultimately fell to the communists – but no other nation fell like a domino. The war in Grenada was unnecessary. The medical students were not being held captive. The war in Panama didn't really achieve its objectives. Drug trafficking doubled after the removal of Manuel Noriega and the U.S. eventually gave the Panama Canal to the Panamanians anyway. The Gulf wars didn't bring true democracy to anybody – and the price of oil went up. Moreover, the war on terrorism has gradually transformed into a drone war against less and less likely suspects – ultimately transforming America into terrorists.

Think about it. The American military/industrial complex needs enemies to justify its existence. No enemies, no tax money. And now that there is no Soviet Union or Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden, they have to find somebody else. But all that is left are a few angry civilians. That doesn't matter. No enemies, no tax money. So, this war on “terrorism” has digressed into an act of chasing ghosts. It's as if America is creating our own enemies so that we can have someone to fight. We pay private “analysts” to find our enemies. (We've got mercenaries doing our spying for us!) And the more “enemies” they find, the more money they make. Anyone familiar with systems theory would know that this is certain to spiral out of control. If America is willing to pay for names, they'll give us names – even if they end up pulling them out of a hat! And once the names of these unfortunate people end up on our hit list, somebody has to go kill them before they go out and commit an act of terrorism. In effect, our intelligence community has created system that doesn't actually need real enemies to commit to acts of war. The American intelligence community can call this whatever they want to, but the people in the nations our drones fly over obviously see this as American terrorism – inspiring anti-American terrorism.

Example: It appears that our military/spying community is so committed to never having another Ayatollah Khomeini that they are willing to kill anyone like him. This may just be the consequence of a system that is so desperate for enemies that they are now chasing anybody who even speaks out. But either way, too many innocent people are dying. Where does this end? When every Muslim cleric who speaks out against America is dead? It's as if we have stumbled into another Crusade. Have we stooped that low? Muslims probably think so. And I would imagine that would make them quite angry.

But it almost appears that's just what the American military/industrial complex was planning for. Now they'll have some more enemies to justify their existence.

Wars are expensive. Wars cost lives. Wars result in unnecessary destruction of the environment. And wars distract us from the real enemies – those who con us into fighting their wars of empire for them.

However, we now we have an additional far more insidious enemy; our perverted war system. Our system of “defense” has shifted into a system of perpetual “war.” War has become a business – a business of collecting our tax money. Our system of checks and balances has been bypassed by a non-governmental system of mercenaries. Our governmental intelligence community has been bypassed by privatization – and thus commercialization.

So what do we do about all these government contractor spies? We can't fire them. We don't want to risk the possibility of them taking private contracts for big business. I recommend we pay them not to be spies – give them other jobs – give them a raise even. It would be a whole lot cheaper than paying for another war.

But of course, the our government and government contractor spies are only the tip of the military/industrial complex. The devil is in the details. The Pentagon still hasn't provided America with an audit of their spending since we ordered one back in 1997. They won't even tell us where our tax money goes! Billions just disappear. And we Americans have let this happen, by not holding them accountable. I bet they'd be much more willing to tell us how our money is being spent if we threatened to cut them off.

I'm not saying that we should shut down the military/industrial complex. I'm saying we shouldn't just give them whatever they want, whenever they want it.

When an arms manufacturer goes over budget, we should either shut down the project or give it to a competitor. When the military says they don't need something, quit making them! And when a government contractor subcontracts out a job, the subcontractor should get almost all of the money for that job.

The sequestration would have cut defense spending significantly – as it was cutting spending everywhere. But lap dog politicians for the military/industrial complex didn't let that happen. And it won't happen until the American people speak up – LOUD.

And while we're at it, we need to work towards a one world democracy – that votes on issues.

The right wing nuts have been totally panicked over a one world government. But what they don't realize is that one already exists. That's what the G8 and G20 meetings are all about. That's what the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Trans Atlantic Free Trade Agreement are all about.

The multi-national corporations are deciding the fate of the world – based upon how much profit they're scheming to get. Officials from Johnson & Johnson, Monsanto, Cisco Systems Inc. and General Electric Co. have been involved with the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations – while America's elected leaders, such as Elizabeth Warren and Alan Grayson have been kept out – and of course, the rest of us are to be left wondering what happened. The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is blatantly an agreement among multi-national corporations. At the negotiation level, this has nothing to do with our nations' governments. Our governments are just supposed to sign it and accept the consequences. That's not democracy in the slightest.

The multi-national corporations are deciding the world's fate without our input – and they don't want some one world democracy to get in their way. That's why they try so hard to panic us about a one world government. That's why the United Nations has received such bad press here in America.

At this point in history, the United Nations represents the best world governing organization we have available. But we could also go one step further. We could develop a one world democracy. Initially, it would not likely be binding. But a landslide win would send a mandate to the world what we, the people of the Earth, really want. No depraved despot would be able to hide the fact that they were acting against the will of humanity.

Imagine all the people of the world voting on what to do about Global Warming. We the people of the world should have the right to decide our fate – not a bunch of paid off politicians and greedy multi-national corporations. We should be able to vote for or against subsidies for devastating our environment. It is almost certain that we the people of the world would vote against wars over oil. It is almost certain that we the people of the world would vote against military oppression that breeds terrorism. It is almost certain that we the people of the world would do a better job than the cash and power obsessed cronies who decide our fate today.

But until then, we can still vote with our pocketbooks. Renewable energy is cheap enough now. Electric cars are on the market. If you can't afford that, inexpensive electric bikes are now on the market. But this isn't just about what is cheapest. This should be about what is smartest.

If enough of us don't use fossil fuels, maybe next time there won't be a convincing excuse to go to war over oil. That's what a Federal scientific inquiry advised President Harry Truman back in the 1950's. That was President Jimmy Carter's goal back in the 1970's. And now; giving up on oil makes more sense than ever. 

But of course; poisoning ourselves, altering our climate, corrupting our governments, and enabling military profiteers has never been a good choice.

*********************

Disclaimer/Invitation: I admit I am only an amateur historian and some of this is only my opinion. But I have left a number of very interesting links to back up my commentary. I understand that how I connect the dots may be different from everyone else. Which is why I invite you to briefly inform me on information I might have left out. Let's connect the dots together. You're welcome to leave a relevant link. 

 

I also will be conducting a conversation on Reddit at:

http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1w7cpg/what_are_your_thoughts_on_a_grand_unified/

And if anyone is interested in collaboratively writing a book; I'll check the comments, and I'll let you know.

If We Really Want Net Neutrality...

The recent ruling by the Federal Appeals Court has been a death sentence for net neutrality. But there are two things we can do to bring it back.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not the Internet. They just provide a connection to the last mile – to the customer.

ISPs are actually the weakest link of the Internet. They charge ridiculously exorbitant rates to provide much slower service than offered in many other countries.

And now they want to charge even more...

Verizon sued to control the flow of the Internet, and they just won. Now, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has no jurisdiction on the Internet. But this is not the final word – if we speak up.

Right now, we need to tell the FCC that they need to rewrite their regulations of the Internet – and bring back net neutrality. Click here to act.

...And if the FCC fails to act?

Then we need to build our own Internet. This isn't as hard as it sounds. We could connect in an open mesh network. Essentially, we could eliminate the need for ISPs. This is already being done in other parts of the world – for far less money, much better connection speeds, and better privacy from the NSA.

The ISPs have been overcharging us for connection to the Internet for too damn long. And now they're using our money to steal control over the Internet to ultimately charge us even more. What's worse, they may make it very difficult for small websites to be accessed. Essentially, the ISPs want to make the Internet like cable TV.

We don't need the ISPs. They charge far too much. And we certainly don't want them to control what we know.

Save the Rich!

No, I really mean it... Save the rich.

Rich people are dying. Rich people are dying and our Government isn't doing enough to help. Ironically, because some greedy rich people scam those tax monies that could have gone towards saving the rich. Allow me to explain. Even the best health care available in America is far from as good as it could be. Therefore; rich people are sick, and even dying, from lack of exceptional health care. (Of course, the rest of us are dying too.)

Our health “care” system is failing us – all of us – even the rich. America is 33^rd in life expectancy on the planet. Moreover, our system for finding cures for diseases is crippled by mismanagement, profit motive excluded cures, and missing Federal funding.

Most of us don't really think about how damaging such an inefficient and corrupt government as ours really hurts us in the long run. But (without profit incentives) if government money doesn't make it to the scientists, it's not likely there will ever be a cure for whatever ails you (or someone in your family).

Our for-profit health care system has brought us Rogaine and Viagra, but not a cure for much anything. Great. Now we'll have rich people dying with hairy erections. That's not what we really wanted. We wanted to save someone we love... But ironically, what we now have is a junkie/pusher relationship with our health “care” system. It didn't have to be this way.

Our “free-market” government experiment has failed us. But we knew that would happen. It was just a system of required bribes and unworthy giveaways. Our nation's resources have been squandered to benefit the off-shore bank accounts of those greedy enough to buy off our “representatives.” And our elected representatives more or less have had no choice but to accommodate them or lose the next election. America's wealth is being siphoned off. Which means America's creativity and productivity have been stunted. This hurts everyone.

Consider this; some of those billions of tax dollars that were wasted on stuffing greedy companies' pockets could have been spent on saving the rich who actually run those greedy companies. But that wouldn't have been as good for those greedy companies' bottom line. So the rich continue to die – and the greedy companies just hire a new CEO every few years.

What would you call this? Self-oppression? I just call it bad judgment. The captains of industry are so devoted to their income streams that they essentially neglect to invest in living.

It's hard to believe that in a country with trillions of tax dollars to spend can't seem to afford to pay scientists to study saving lives... But of course, the U.S. Government could; but the health “care” industry isn't really all that motivated to want healthy Americans. The drug companies, the hospitals, the medical device industry, and even the health care workers all secretly want (at least some of) us sick; so that we have to pay them for “treatments.” They're not necessarily evil. But nobody wants to lose their income stream. So they evidently don't put that much effort into actually curing people. And we put up with that, as long as the health care industry doesn't actually hold back good ideas – which they don't appear to be doing directly (much). However, by charging so much for health care, there isn't enough money left to look for cures.

...And rich people continue to die.

A rational government would be doing everything it reasonably could to save the lives of its citizens – especially its most powerful citizens. But that's not how a corporatist state (dis)functions. In America, government monies get allocated to the highest bidder. And scientists (even scientists who save lives) don't have any money for lobbyists, so they end up at the back of the line.

Out of America's 3.7 trillion dollar budget, only 31 billion dollars gets spent on science, technology, and space exploration. And only a fraction of that gets spent on finding cures for diseases.

I realize that throwing money at a disease doesn't guarantee a cure, but in our economic system; not funding health science guarantees that there won't be a cure.

Many American scientists are going without funding – especially now with the budget sequester. The talents of scores of American scientists are being wasted. Apparently, America doesn't have enough money to save lives.

But that's OK... America now has the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet! And after 8 years of delays and $167 billion in cost overruns, they still can't fly in combat. No really! If this were fiction no one would believe it. How could our government possibly have such bad judgment? (Hint; private profits matter more than pubic good - see photo.)

Ask anyone; what we need are cures to diseases, not $137 million fighter jets to frighten poor people on the other side of the planet. Nonetheless, Washington somehow just doesn't seem to get it – even though they too are dying before their time.

Too many American scientists have been left to beg for charity. But fortunately, there is some. The January 2014 issue of Life Extension magazine boasted about how they were filling the void in government funding for biomedical research. The article mentioned seven scientists they awarded grants of tens of thousands of dollars each to. I commend them for that. But Life Extension Foundation shouldn't have to do this. We pay taxes for this. I don't want crappy fighter jets. I want scientists studying how to save lives. Yes, I want my tax money to save rich people's lives.

And rich people do have the most to lose here. Whatever cures are discovered; they will likely, at least initially, be expensive. Which means rich people would be the first to benefit from any scientific breakthroughs.

One of the scientists mentioned in the Life Extension article was John Schloendorn, PhD (molecular biology). I'll quote:

“we derived immune cells from mouse progenitor cells, and were able to use those cells to save the lives of mice that had been administered what would otherwise have been fatal infectious pathogens. There were no immune system incompatibilities, and no immunological matching was required... The next step... would have been human clinical trials. But this would have required $15 million, a sum of money we ultimately failed to raise.”

So here we have a scientist who may have discovered a way to reduce illness – and nobody in the health “care” industry or our government cares?

...What?!

This would be hilarious if it weren't so tragic – and likely so common.

• If this had been a drug that treated the condition (but did not cure it), the drug companies would have been interested.
• If this had been a new way to kill people, the military/industrial complex would have been interested.
• If this had been a way to save the lives of only conservatives, the Republicans would have been interested.

But this idea, like who knows how many more, sit on the back burner until some private organization throws them a bone. Life Extension Foundation donated $50 thousand to John Schloendorn's project – far short of the $15 million he needed for the human clinical trials.

Rich people, who might have lived many years longer, are dying.

So why aren't rich people up in arms? Where are the protests?

Apparently, rich people figured out how not to pay taxes, and that isn't their tax monies being wasted. So consequently, unlike the rest of us, they don't feel as cheated. And if they speak up – well, the rest of us might insist the rich help pay to save the rich... Forget about it.

But seriously:

• The rich in the health “care” industry are raking in billions. They don't want to rock the boat.
• The rich in the military/industrial complex are raking in billions. They don't want to rock the battleship.
• The rich in government are raking in (at least) millions. They don't want real change.
• And the rich in the entertainment industry are just actors, so they don't really know what they're talking about (with the exception of Ronald Reagan, of course.)

This is a sign. This is a sign that the takers in Washington have more power than the rest of us. Pork barrel boondoggles abound. Especially in the military/industrial complex.

American taxpayers have, are, and will be paying for generations for the greatest killing machine ever to have existed in history (ironically, without any significant enemies). American military spending is more than the next 10 countries combined! But apparently, we need to spend that much money because so much of it gets wasted (translation; pocketed). Astonishingly; we don't even know how much of our tax dollars actually gets wasted, because evidently the Pentagon doesn't actually keep audit-able books. (How convenient – for the beltway bandits.)

Example: One quarter of the $1.6 trillion being spent on major weapons systems come from “unexpected” cost overruns. That's $403 billion that defense contractors essentially con out of the U.S. taxpayer. (Yes, I use the term “con.” How would you feel about a home repair contractor who always charged you 25% more than they quoted? You'd feel conned. And you'd have every right.)

So, to top all of that corruption and mismanagement off, I'll ask; what does the military/industrial complex actually accomplish with all of that money? Are we winning any wars? And for the answer to that, I will refer my readers to the video documentary Dirty Wars by Jeremy Scahill. I highly recommend this documentary.

The way America fights wars has changed. There are no armies left to fight. There are no countries left to stand up to us. All that is left are a few angry civilians we call terrorists.

Without a Hitler, without a Khrushchev, without even a Osama bin Laden; America's secret military government still wants us to believe we have dangerous “enemies.” But these enemies are beginning to look more and more like ghosts – even fabrications.

In one scene of the documentary Dirty Wars; Jeremy Scahill reports about a Muslim Cleric, who, immediately after 9/11 sided with America. But after years of watching America invade Muslim countries, spoke out against America. Consequently, he went into hiding. And the hunt was on. Eventually; America's secret army, JSOC, hunts him down and kills him – and his American son.

Now wait a minute... Our secret government is willing to kill an American for the “crime” of being related to someone who spoke out against America. That's nonsense. They may as well have just pulled somebody's name out of a hat... And who knows. Maybe they do.

Think about it. Even spying is effected by the marketplace. Even analysts deep within the bowels of military “intelligence” get paid. They have careers. They probably even compete amongst each other for promotions. And they know that if they don't find any “terrorists,” some other analyst will. The pressure to come up with names is likely intense. Moreover, if any analyst were to say; “it looks like we got all of them,” they would likely be treated with disdain. That comment would imply that all the analysts were no longer necessary – and they could all lose their jobs.

It is said that “you get what you pay for.” And the U.S. Government wants names.

We all know how the market works – they'll get their names – even if it's on the flimsiest of evidence.

And once they get those names, there comes a responsibility.

Once this person is on this list, the U.S. Government is somewhat responsible for their actions. If this person really were an active terrorist, and nothing is done, the blame for any attack would eventually fall on those who posses the list. Consequently, it is very likely that someone in power in our secret government might be convinced that the prudent thing to do (politically) would be to kill the “terrorists” before they act.

...This is effectively a hit list.

...And it has no oversight.

If someone is added to this list, it no longer matters what they've done – or what they're planning to do – or even if they just spoke out against America. There's no way of getting off the list. And they will likely never know they were on the list... Just like a hit list.

Only this hit list continues to exist and grow long past its usefulness – because of predictable market reactions – because of money. People are getting paid to put names on this list – and they likely wouldn't get paid if they didn't.

The analysts have jobs. The bureaucrats have jobs. The soldiers have jobs. And they're all just doing their jobs. This is the worst example of a systematic failure I have ever seen.

So, my point is simple:

We are allowing rich people in America to die so that we can kill poor people on the other side of the planet.

WTF?!!!

An “All of the Above” Energy Strategy Shouldn't Mean Absurd Subsidies and Loopholes

In the recent issue of our local rural power cooperative's publication, Ruralite, the National Rural Electric Cooperative tried to convince us that coal is still a cheap source of power. I appreciate their efforts to keep electric bills affordable. However, just because they are heavily invested in coal doesn't mean Mt. Wheeler Power has to live by their flawed economic calculations. In the real world, coal is far more expensive than the coal industry wants us to know. The reason your coal fired power bill seems cheap is because they have been taking some of their profits from your taxes (and worse, they have left you with the bill for dealing with their poisonous and climate altering wastes). 

Since 1950, the U.S. Government has provided the coal burning industry with over $70 billion in tax breaks and subsidies. Additionally, over the past 30 years, coal mining has received almost $30 billion in U.S. subsidies. Our tax dollars are being used to make it appear that coal power is cheap. They are using our own money to hoodwink us. Face it; there is no legitimate reason financially successful companies should be receiving absurd subsidies such as this. This isn't free market economics, it's welfare for established monopolistic industries! Every tax-paying American is being forced to support an industry that is taking our nation's resources to pollute the rest of our resources.

...Eventually humanity will have to stop burning coal for power. Either a competing technology will be better or we will someday run out of coal. Either way, coal is not a long-term option. (And besides, if we burn up all that coal for power, how are we going to smelt our minerals?)

The estimate the coal industry quoted in this article for how much coal remains in the ground is practically laughable. “236 years.” Like they were able to accurately estimate, down to the year; how much coal is left in the ground and how much America will burn it. What are the error tolerances? I'd say about 236 years plus or minus 200 years (but most likely minus).

When I hear of pie-in-the-sky estimates like this, it reminds me that coal mining corporations' investment dollars are dependent upon estimates of recoverable coal reserves. If they say they have a lot of coal, investors will invest more. The U.S. Energy Information Agency probably just takes every one of these over-optimistic estimates and adds them up. Of course, the coal industry doesn't complain because it gives us a false sense of plenty.

...Nonetheless, the obvious reality is that this isn't really about the coal. This is about the money. Ideally, in a more just society; our subsidies wouldn't be going to the highest bidder. Ideally that $100 billion would have gone towards the development of safe, reliable, sustainable energy production. But quite likely, much of those subsidies ultimately went into the oligarchy's off-shore bank accounts.

Worldwide, all fossil fuels together have received half a trillion dollars in government subsides every year! Could you imagine where the people of the world would be if we had given those subsidies to renewable energy companies instead? We would have been breathing healthier, instead of having to live with a trashed atmosphere. We would still have the tops of the Appalachians. We might have still had a reliable climate. But, most important to the coal industry; we would have been more self-reliant, instead of reluctantly propping up an industry far past its prime. The coal industry doesn't want us to be independent. They want us to be dependent – upon them. And for that, it appears that they intend to fool us into paying any price.

A Harvard study has calculated that the hidden cost of coal in America (over and above what we pay to the power companies) is half a trillion dollars a year. Somebody's got to pay for the health care for all those black lung disease patients – and asthma – and lung disease – and cancer etc.

So, why didn't the author of this article on coal power want to talk about those costs? My guess is that they don't want us to think about them. They don't want to pay for those costs – and as long as they control the focus of the argument, they don't want us to focus on “externalities.” “Externalities,” you know; the economists' term for costs they don't have to pay because... well, they made a deal with our government. As long as they live within the rules they helped write, ignoring the consequences of their actions is perfectly legal.

The medical journal Lancet lists air pollution in its top 10 disease risk factors. And, of course, burning of fossil fuels is the greatest emitter of air pollution. Environment America has rated the Intermountain Power Project in Utah the 29^th dirtiest power plant in America. That's right, the coal-fired power plant Mt. Wheeler Power buys most of its electricity from is one of the dirtiest power plants in the country. This is what they are trying to prop up.

...The title of the article in the Ruralite publication I am commenting on is “When it Comes to Providing Energy, 'All-of-the-Above' Strategy is Critical.” Or in other words; “give coal some loopholes.” Now for a moment, think about a term they used; “critical.” When I think of the word “critical,” I think of the condition of the most desperate people in hospitals. I think of crisis or emergency. But if the coal industry doesn't get their absurd subsidies or environmental loopholes, nobody is going to die. On the other hand, if they continue to get away with not having to deal with the consequences of their actions, lots of people are going to die – lots of people who wouldn't have died, if we weren't burning poisons.

A World Health Organization study has revealed that 3.3 million people die every year worldwide from outdoor air pollution.

This is an enormous catastrophic cost. But this cost rarely even gets mentioned. How can any rational economic system just ignore the highest cost to humanity? People are dying. A lot of people are dying. If the fossil fuel industry were shooting these people, the world would be in an uproar. But since they (and we) are poisoning them; hey, that's just the cost of doing business?

...I guess if the coal industry doesn't want to talk about the health effects, most likely they don't want to talk about the effects on the environment either? Nope. All the article mentioned was Carbon Sequestration, and... well, forget about it.

Of course, what we can't forget about is that coal pollution seriously effects our environment. For example; the drought in the American West for the past 13 years has severely effected our water supply. And a Department of Energy study has shown that coal soot melts snow pack.

…But that's just an inconvenience compared to what coal pollution, that witches brew of tons of dangerous and poisonous chemicals emitted by every coal-fired power plant (both into the air and onto the ground), does to plants and animals.

A USGS study has found widespread mercury contamination in American “fresh” water. It simply isn't as safe to eat anything anymore... Nonetheless, mercury is just one of the many dangerous and poisonous effluents from coal-fired power plants – even ones with “scrubbers” (because what doesn't go into the air ends up on the ground).

We've been poisoning ourselves. We've been allowing others to poison us. But we don't have to do that any more. Just this one benefit of renewable energy is absolutely priceless! We no longer have to poison ourselves, our families, and everyone we know to get electricity. Even if it cost a little more at first, eventually inflation will drive the cost of coal generation up – and renewable energy will be cheaper in the long run.

So, here's the deal; we can get something priceless for the price of what we're going to have to do eventually anyway. Any reasonable economic system would favor wise decisions. But apparently, our economic markets are so perverted by manipulated laws that somehow poisoning ourselves looks like a thrifty idea.

The fatal flaw of our economic system is that we can't seem to think long term. In most companies, long term planning is five years out. Just five years. But those five years keep on adding up. Global warming started to become a real issue back in the '80s. It's been almost 35 years now.

If you were born after April 1985, you have never seen a month on Earth cooler than what was once the average Earth temperature. This has had a direct effect on the quality of your life. This has had a substantial effect on the quality of life on Earth. Every ecosystem on the planet is in decline.

I'll say it... We are already firmly in the grip of climate change.

The price of food and food security have already been significantly effected by climate change.

In the West, the recreation and tourism industry has suffered due to drought, pestulance, and fire. This will likely get significantly worse as climate change progresses.

According to the international humanitarian organization DARA; extreme weather and climate change are already costing the world $1.2 trillion a year.

And the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research claims that if the world puts off cooperative efforts to fight climate change until 2030, the costs will triple.

...What costs? There's no mention of these costs in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association article... Personally, I consider that the epitome of irresponsibility. But that's just how our economic system is focused. Everybody does it. Unfortunately however, what we ignore in real world doesn't go away. And if we ignore the consequences of dumping millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, there will likely be Hell to pay – starting now and lasting for a thousand years. Because much of the carbon dioxide we are emitting will stay in the atmosphere for the next thousand years.

On top of that, carbon dioxide can naturally become carbonic acid. Due to the high concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, the oceans are becoming more acidic faster than they have in the past 300 million years (a period that includes four mass extinctions). Already some life in the oceans is being disintegrated by this acidic water. Eventually, and possibly much sooner than we think; we may lose our coral reefs.

What price would you pay to keep the oceans' coral reefs? I believe that if we really knew the consequences of our actions, we might act far more responsibly. Which is why so many of us must not want to know the consequences of our actions. Sadly, I have watched for decades as the problem continues to get worse – while so many people continue to pretend that they aren't a part of the problem. Our economy, our nation, even our civilization is now likely at critical risk. (And unlike the coal industry article, I really mean “critical.”)

We are already seeing vast methane plumes North of Siberia. Methane is 20 times the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is – and there are vast of frozen methane pockets worldwide on the verge of a tipping point – where the melted methane could heat the Earth enough to develop a self-reinforcing cycle of melting even more methane, and more, and more. Oh, and one more thing, over a 20 year period, methane is 86 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

A study printed in the science publication Nature predicts that by 2050, as many as a million species may go extinct due to climate change...

Nobody wants to pay high power bills. But the cost of coal-fired power has become far higher than we ever imagined.

The Mt. Wheeler Power (MWP) cooperative doesn't generate power. They deliver power. Financially, it doesn't really matter to MWP how our power is generated – as long as they can make enough money to continue to provide needed services. Herein lies an opportunity.

MWP already offers wind generated power. And with net metering, some of us locals could even generate solar and wind power ourselves – to intermittently be shared with others here. This provides the opportunity for MWP to be the middleman between local generators and customers.

Fossil fuels were the fuel of the 20^th century. But they were so successful that everybody did it. And when everybody does anything, the consequences pile up. We still need power, however. And photovoltaic solar power keeps getting cheaper.

In time, inflation will drive up the price of coal-fired power generation – even if the coal industry doesn't have to clean up their act. But most renewable energy is an up-front cost. Which means once it's paid for, there is nothing to drive up the cost. MWP needs to rethink their business model. Steptoe Valley is an excellent place to generate photovoltaic energy. MWP needs to consider power purchase offers for truly clean power generated right here locally.

The coal-fired power plant in Utah (where MWP buys its power from) is getting near retirement age. The time has come to adapt – or suffer the environment and economy crushing consequences.