Top Campaign Issue so far...

Do you know what it is?

You probably do... more than likely it's the biggest issue for you as well.

Nope... not abortion.

Nope... not protecting the sanctity of marriage.

Nope... not national security.

It's gas prices. The American people are apparently most concerned with which candidate will "drill for more oil".

I can't believe that with all the HUGE issues swirling around in the political climate (did we forget that we're currently fighting 2 wars???) it could come down to which candidate supports drilling.

Do Americans even know that the President has no control over the drilling?
Congress is the body that has limited the areas we can drill in. And we haven't even drilled in all the places that the oil companies have been permitted to drill.

It's just amazing to me... We really need to educate ourselves and start to make decisions based on information rather than emotion.

So... Why not?

If the argument for switching to renewable energy sources ASAP was...

"to sever our dependence on oil from the Middle East and save Americans money, while simultaneously making urban air safer and easier to breathe"

...would it then be easier to agree with/to?

No one can truly prove positively that man is affecting the climate. The best evidence currently available seems to show that this is the case, but again, we've only really got computer models based on information gathered in the past few centuries. Beyond that it's based on inferences.

But here's my question... Since we CAN create enough energy to sustain our lives as we are living them today by wind and solar power alone... why not do it?

The development of a "green" industry based in the United States would create a niche industry, employ millions of Americans, and give us an advantage in relation to the rest of the world...

...just like the Industrial Revolution did in the late 1800's and early 1900's...

...just like our military industrial complex did after WWI and WWII...

...just like our pharmaceutical and medical industry did in the middle of the 20th century...

...just like our computer and technology industry did in the late 20th century.

If we don't find some niche industry to excel at every couple of decades, our economy WILL grow stagnate as the rest of the world catches up to us.

We've been a super power for most of the past 200+ years mainly because of our ability to stay ahead of the game... by spotting or starting the next big trend in the global economy...

The "green" revolution to shift to renewable energy and reduce the amount of waste we create (and subsequently have to live in) IS the next big revolution... it's already started on a global scale. If we don't lead the charge, we'll be buying our green goods and services from the next global super power to attain the status of the former Soviet Union.

And that's not change that we can believe in.

working for the man

My apologies for not having been able to post every day since I voiced my goal. I didn't think about the fact that I was leaving the country on Sept 30th. I went on a cruise to Bermuda for a week. I will post some pictures and a recap soon.

Today's post is about the instability in my job.

Being a contractor for the government, you never really feel completely secure. I've felt more secure than most because I've worked my way into a position that makes it difficult to eliminate me. It's not that exciting (I build and maintain databases) but they need me. I know too much about the research... that's my real security.

Last week, I started working for a new employer. The government ended the contract with my old employer and moved me and a few coworkers to this new contracting agency. Sadly, in that move I lost a company sponsored 401k and 10 days of PTO. Hey, when you're asked by the government to underbid someone else, you've gotta cut costs somewhere... and you know it ain't gonna be from your profitabiliy.

Sadly, I used half of my PTO last week for the cruise... in my first week of employment with the new contractor.

Elsewhere in my employment news, the government has mentioned that they want to bring me on as a true full time government employee! I wish I could be more excited about this, but it's not the 1st time they've mentioned it in the past 4 years... nor the 2nd... not even the 3rd. So we'll see... until December... and I'm definitely not holding my breath.

There's been a hiring freeze in place since Bush took office, so instead of just hiring the workers, we're hiring them through another agency and paying more for each one. The same number of people are still working for the government, they're just not technically employed by the government.

So... anyone got any tips on which is the best retirement account for me to open up?

Tim Griffin... you're outta here

Most of you probably don't know who Tim Griffin is. That's not surprising.


Well, take a few moments to read up on him.


Ok, so you don't want to do the research on your own, huh? Well, long and short of it, he was VERY closely involved in the 2000 Florida recount (on Bush's side of it all) and also heavily involved in the 2004 Presidential Election. Most notably, in 2004, he was caught red-handed emailing a "caging list" to Carl Rove with 70,000 names of students, military personnel and homeless voters, from predominantly black and Democratic areas.


He was later appointed the U.S. Attorney in Arkansas when Bud Cummins was forced to resign in the recent and ongoing scandal involving Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.


Okay, so now you're up to speed. Basically, he's a loyal bushie and is definitely not the most upstanding or moral individual.


Well, he resigned, effective June 1, to "pursue opportunities in the private sector" after all that finagling to get him the position in the first place. The timing of the resignation is especially interesting...


He resigned on the day that (just hours after, actually) Michigan Representative John Conyers asked for information regarding the emailed caging lists.


Those lists, by the way, were obtained by Greg Palast, investigative reporter and author of Armed Madhouse.

Please note that in the CNN article about the resignation (which was difficult for me to even locate after hearing the news) there is no mention of his background in any of these scandals.

But try to remember his name... I have a funny feeling he'll be popping up again... He's now looking to work for Fred Thompson's campaign... I guess that's as close to the private sector as he can get.

Thought you should know...

I don't know who you are planning to vote for in 2008.

If you're anything like me, you don't know yet either.

Good... then you have plenty of time to learn about the candidates.

Just so we're clear, I'm not advocating for ANY candidate from ANY party. I'm just trying to get the facts to the voting population so that they may make an educated decision.

Here's an interesting article on Hillary from The Nation...

Armed Madhouse

Have you ever heard of an "investigative reporter"?

Seriously... have you?

Have you seen one on TV recently?

You've no doubt seen "correspondents" for all different areas around the world. But when was the last time someone was introduced as an investigative reporter (except on your local news when dealing with auto repair scams)?

Greg Palast is a true investigative reporter. That means that he and his team of investigators actually goes out looking for information about the topics he's going to write about. They call people, they confirm stories via the informant's sources... they verify everything that they write about. They don't just ask one person and publish that person's version of events.

Anyway, my point is that Greg Palast has been doing A LOT of investigative reporting over the past few years, and I'd be willing to bet that you've never heard of him and probably haven't had the opportunity to read anything that he's written.

That's because the American Media conglomerates won't utilize his stories. But the BBC does... all the time. Now you might ask why the US media outlets won't use him... well, basically, it's because his stories are so "out there" when compared to the "official word" that the organizations have been fed by whichever single source they decided to go with that they don't have the budget to actually confirm his allegations. Now, Greg Palast has already confirmed everything he writes, but since the American Media can't afford (it would cut into the dividends paid to share holders) to fact check the pieces, they are simply tossed aside.

So what can you do about this?

I suggest you go out and purchase the audiobook of Greg Palast's most recent book... Armed Madhouse.

Currently it's #23 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for paperback nonfiction. Of course, there's no review of the book since it distributes information that the current administration doesn't really want you to know.

I never read this book... BUT I did get the audiobook and listen to the entire thing twice. It's a GREAT book. But it's an even better audiobook. It's read by the author, who incorporates his sense of humor with the facts and figures... so he delivers all the humor as it was intended, something that is often difficult to do if you've never heard a person speak, but yet try to read their jokes.

If you're not that into audiobooks... fine... go out and buy the "paper version". You'll seriously learn a great deal more after reading that book once, than you would if you watched any and all American news channels for 8 weeks straight.

And after you've read it, I strongly encourage you to spread the word... encourage your friends and family to read it too... Hell, lend them the book (if you think you'll actually get it back) so they don't even have to shell out the loot.

Then let me know what you thought. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book, the contents, or even the author...

Regent Law??

Please tell me that you've heard of this through some other source than just this blog...

Regent Law School was started by Pat Robertson and is a "tier 4" law school (that means "bad"). Yet, Monica Goodling (you've at least heard of her in the news in the past week or so, right?... maybe on the Daily Show??) and about 150 other graduates of this small, poorly ranked, VERY religious school are highly integrated into our current government and administration, especially in the Justice Department.

Here's a clip from Bill Maher about the topic...

Quote of the Day

I wish I knew more about political history... or really just history in general. Then again, there are so many things that I wish I knew that if I tried to leard 1/3 of it all, I'd have no time to drink beer and enjoy the outdoors. So I try to maintain a delicate balance.

Anyway... I learned a quote today that I really wish I'd heard years ago.

Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the
country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the
people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament,
or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought
to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them
they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and
exposing the country to greater danger.

-- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

It seems to hold so much truth to what we've seen over the past few years or so... Now, I know there are a lot of people who feel that the US Gov't had some hand in the 9/11 attacks... either causing them, or at a minimum, allowing them to happen. I'm not one of those people... but if you show me some proof, I wouldn't put it past them.

Honestly, though, I just wanted to put that quote out there for you to read... maybe you never heard it either... or maybe just not for a while. Regardless, it seems like a fairly intelligent statement... unfortunately.

Paper is GOOD!!

Check out this bill that was introduced in the House over a month and a half ago...

H.R. 811, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007

Much props to Rep. Rush Holt (the first guy named Rush I've ever liked!).

Here's a summary of the bill and what it would do.

I urge you to call or write to your state's Representatives and ask them to vote for the paper trail. Otherwise, you may never know who, exactly, you voted for.

There's a similar bill in the Senate, too! Don't forget to call your State Senators and tell them to support this bill as well!!

S. 559, The Vote Integrity and Verification Act of 2007

Money down the toilet

You know, Lou Dobbs isn't my favorite person in the world, and I definitely can't say I agree with
everything he says...

But recently he posted an opinion piece that made a lot of sense to me.

Now keep in mind that I don't advocate drug use, nor do I think that legalization of drugs should mean that anyone can do drugs anywhere, at any time. IF we were to legalize, it would mostly mean governmental regulation (similar to alcohol and cigarettes) and sin taxes galore. BUT it would definitely help reduce funding to terrorists and drug cartels, reduce violent crime since turf wars could be fought in courts rather than on the streets, and help ensure that kids don't have ready access to weed, meth, crack, or whatever else is currently on the buffet table for early teenagers.

Anyway, this post isn't necessarily about my views, as it is about the views Lou Dobbs put forth on CNN.com a few days ago.

I know that thousands upon thousands of people currently make their living waging the war on drugs, and that number is beginning to explode as we build more prisons and such. But if we sit down and have a frank discussion about it, I'm sure we could come up with some way to reduce the number of lost jobs by creating new jobs helping people get off the drugs that currently put them behind bars.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments on this topic...