Wtach this
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-594683847743189197          



43 MINS ONWARDS!!!! WATCH THIS AND EVERYTHING WILL BE REVEALED, TH GOVERMENT ISNT PROTECTING YOU ITS KILLING YOU TAKING YOUR RIGHTS AWAY!

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It's a Drug-addict Economy...
I'm listening to Washington Journal on CSPAN, and the guest right now is Republican hack Oliver Norquist (he's the president of "Americans For Tax Reform"), who is complaining about how the government is STILL taxing people who have lots of money (no problem with poor people being taxed, after all: even though it's a much higher percentage of their income, poor people don't pay a high dollar amount, so what do they have to complain about?), and the government still hasn't deregulated commerce!

His "logic" runs pretty much the way a drug addict thinks: "if I could just have all the drugs I want, and stay high all the time, without those Other People always telling me what to do, everything would be just FINE!"

He even admonished a caller who asked his opinion of CEOs amassing huge personal fortunes at the expense of everybody else, for having the temerity to "resent" people who have a little more than they do (a "LITTLE"). He's so representative of what is wrong with our system, it makes me want to climb through the TV set and out the monitor nearest him (like Sadako in "Ringu") and SHOW him what it's like to be victimized. He has no problem victimizing other people, but I think it would be another matter entirely if HE were put out on the street with only the clothes he stands up in, and forced to keep body and soul together somehow.

The freaking little bastard is a self-satisfied, smug, brainless idiot. I wouldn't cry a single tear if he died horrifically in some kind of freak accident, along with all the rest of the fascist scum in the world. We could definitely do without them.

Current Mood: angry

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Hell No, The Work Isn't Over Yet!
Having elected a new president and, largely, a new Congress, we can't sit back now and wait passively for THEM to "save" us.
( Cut For LengthCollapse )

Current Mood: determined

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Never be so ashamed to be an American that you give it up.


THE RISE of the UNITED SOCIALIST STATES of AMERICA

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An idea
McCain's temper is legendary. Someone needs to get him all riled up, on camera. This is the McCain that voters need to see. Someone who is reactionary and irate - not to be trusted with stressful situations.

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Palin's stance on the issues.
Per http://www.votesmart.org/npat.php?can_id=27200

Governor Sarah H. Palin (AK)

Current Office: Governor
Office Seeking: Vice President
First Elected: 11/07/2006
Last Elected: 11/07/2006
Next Election: 2010
Party: Republican

Governor Sarah H. Palin REPEATEDLY REFUSED TO PROVIDE ANY RESPONSES TO CITIZENS ON ISSUES through the 2006 national political awareness test when asked to do so by key national leaders of both major parties including:

John McCain, Republican Senator
Geraldine Ferraro, Former Democratic Congresswoman
Michael Dukakis, Former Democratic Governor
Bill Frenzel, Former Republican Congressman
Richard Kimball, Project Vote Smart President

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rest of the U.S. finally getting a clue?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080706/ap_on_re_us/america_s_bad_mood

Even folks in the Optimist Club are having a tough time toeing an upbeat line these days. Eighteen members of the volunteer organization's Gilbert, Ariz., chapter have gathered, a few days before this nation's 232nd birthday, to focus on the positive: Their book drive for schoolchildren and an Independence Day project to place American flags along the streets of one neighborhood.

They beam through the Pledge of Allegiance, applaud each other's good news — a house that recently sold despite Arizona's down market, and one member's valiant battle with cancer. "I didn't die," she says as the others cheer.

But then talk turns to the state of the Union, and the Optimists become decidedly bleak.

They use words such as "terrified," "disgusted" and "scary" to describe what one calls "this mess" we Americans find ourselves in. Then comes the list of problems constituting the mess: a protracted war, $4-a-gallon gas, soaring food prices, uncertainty about jobs, an erratic stock market, a tougher housing market, and so on and so forth.

One member's son is serving his second tour in Iraq. Another speaks of a daughter who's lost her job in the mortgage industry and a son in construction whose salary was slashed. Still another mentions a friend who can barely afford gas.

Joanne Kontak, 60, an elementary school lunch aide inducted just this day as an Optimist, sums things up like this: "There's just entirely too much wrong right now."

Happy birthday, America? This year, we're not so sure.

The nation's psyche is battered and bruised, the sense of pessimism palpable. Young or old, Republican or Democrat, economically stable or struggling, Americans are questioning where they are and where they are going. And they wonder who or what might ride to their rescue.

These are more than mere gripes, but rather an expression of fears — concerns reflected not only in the many recent polls that show consumer confidence plummeting, personal happiness waning and more folks worrying that the country is headed in the wrong direction, but also in conversations happening all across the land.

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Road to Guantanamo
I am new to this community and felt like sharing this movie and my experience watching it. It is called Road to Guantanamo and it depicts what happens to The Tipton Three (detainees) at as they arrive and as they are kept at Guantanamo. I watched it in my "Facing History and Ourselves" class (yes I am in high school) and it really had an impact on me. I knew torture existed in these "camps" but I never thought it was this bad. The methods used here are completely insane. All this goes against the Geneva Convention. My teacher also told me that people are criticizing Obama for wanting to actually talk to the supposed terrorist. I am not big on politics but the movie is making me look into it more. 

A lot of American's assume that since Osama Bin Laden and Sadam Hussein are terrorist than everyone from there is the same. Well that would mean all American's are like Bush.  WHICH IS THANKFULLY NOT TRUE.

It also made me wonder, what if they had been terrorist do we have the right to treat them this way? I don't think so because they are still humans. What are your views.

http://www.roadtoguantanamomovie.com/
http://www.witnesstorture.org/

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So, what else are they lying about
OK - so my buddy Ron sends me this link from CNN dot com.  

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2008/04/07/ldt.h1b.visas.cnn

The headline was pretty startling.  "H1b visas doubled"

That would be pretty interesting here in the office, as we process H1b's for our professors.  It's a work visa, with lots of limits on it, including a yearly limit on how many are issued.  For the last several years, demand has exceeded supply.  That has not always been the case.

Some of the other limits built into the H1b program include a requirement to pay the "prevailing wage", a government term that pretty much means what it says - whatever is the going rate of pay for that profession - determined regionally, within each state, and not a nationwide average,  is the pay the employer has to give.  This makes hiring an international person MORE expensive than hiring an American, because the company has to pay the going rate of salary PLUS the government filing fees, and usually has to pay a lawyer or qualified staff person to handle all the paperwork to boot.   The job has to be advertised for a certain amount of time, and the company has to demonstrate that they were unable to find any qualified American worker for the job.

With all that - there is still a greater demand for these H1b visas than supply.  and guess where the demand is greatest?   In high-tech fields that require good math and science skills.   Guess what U.S. kids aren't graduating with these days?  Science and Math degrees.


SO!

What's got me bent out of shape?

Well the headline  "H1b visas doubled"  is simply, completely, factually FALSE.

This isn't a matter of "opinion" or "point of view".   There is no change in the number of available H1b visas for 2008, nor any posted changes predicted for future years.

So what are the reporters talking about?

There have been recent changes in the post-graduation work permits issued to international students.  But they aren't on H1b visas.
they are on F-1s.

Ok, facts, smacts -   nevermind the visa category - What are these changes?

Well, for one,  students used to be issued a 12 month work card and could use it to look for work and to get work experience.  They had 12 months to find a job.

Now they have 90 days.

Oh yes, the card is still printed up for 12 months,  but now, under the new regs,  if they haven't found a job in 90 days, then they are out of status - meaning they are no longer welcome in the U.S.  bye bye.

Did CNN at least get that part right?         No.  They actually stated that international grads from U.S. Universities will now have *more* time to look for a job.


Again, this isn't a matter of opinion, it's not subject to interpretation.  It's a government regulation - about as cut and dried as it gets.   And CNN got it entirely, completely, 100% wrong.

So what is CNN blathering on about?

Well, the government has this new computer monitoring system called E-Verify.  Look it up.     And then tell me if you were a company, of any size,  would you want to spend the money on software modifications and staff training just so the feds could invade even more of your privacy?  would you want to spend the money on software modifications and staff training just so the feds could invade the private personnel records of all your workers?  

Well then, what if we dangle a carrot in front of you - how about we let you keep your tech workers a few months longer?

Yup - that's what all the fuss is about.      The provision allows for students who have

- graduated from a U.S. University (hellloooo - paying billions of dollars a year in out of state tuition and fees)
- and found a job within 90 days of graduation
- and have graduated from a very short list of approved science and technology categories
- and are working for a company that has voluntarily complied with E-Verify requirements,

then there's 17 additional months of work permission available.   That's it.

It's just an incentive program for companies to enroll in E-Verify.   No increased numbers of H1b's.  No "more than two years to find a job",  none of the crap they were spewing in the news story.

What happened to CNN?  I'd expect something like this from Fox, but... damn.


OK folks, The only reason I caught this is because I work in the field.  Otherwise I'd have no inkling that the news media was flat out lying.   Oh sure, I've always been aware of media  bias.... but this stretches the definition of the word "bias" to unbelievable extremes.  This is just flat out lying.

so....  what else are they lying about ?

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The only reason the USA isn't a third world nation ...
... is that we're the ones doing the numbering.

Crossposted to my journal and ashamedamerican



Of course, this is by the Beeb. The mainstream media in the US won't touch this - nobody wants to hear about a refugee camp in the middle of orange county.

Hoovervilles are outdated. We'll have to start calling them Bushburgs, or something similar.

Current Mood: discontent

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if america is the "best country in the world," why do we always need to hear this from americans? is it because americans need to convince us, or do they need to convince THEMSELVES?



You all have such short memories. The Battle of the Chesapeake was the French naval victory over the British that directly led to US independance. Directly. George Washington's army would have been defeated otherwise. You may remember George Washington went on to be a moderately important person in US history, behind Ronald McDonald.

That's right, homos. You have freedom and a country to die for because of the French, Spanish and Dutch soldiers who allied with you. But you don't want to hear that because it hurts to be completely wrong about who owes whom.

Americans ignore the facts anyway and act like the inbred retards that they are.



U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 3945
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 0
Total 3945
http://icasualties.org/oif/
*THAT'S RIGHT! Only 55 more to go until we reach the high score of 4000 dead americans!

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Not Hidden Well Enough
well, just underneath all the headlines about the latest Hollywood brouhaha,

and of course, well below the incredibly important article titled:  Missing Cat found inside owner's suitcase!  (no, I'm not making this up).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_fe_st/odd_missing_cat

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Read the Words of Thomas Paine...

"...in America THE LAW IS KING. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other."

- Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

It is utterly shaming that we, the people, are represented by cowards - or criminals - so absolute that they will not oppose utter tyrants who set themselves above the law, viz. George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Karl Rove, et al.

How are all you supporters of the Bush Mob faring now? Still happy with neo-conservative rule? Still convinced that Every Man for Himself is the best way to respond to bullies and thieves? Or are you still in denial that there even is a problem? Maybe you think it's all a coincidence that we're in worse shape as a nation than we've been in the past eighty years? You probably think that our erstwhile allies have deserted us because they have a deficiency of judgment and leadership? Corporations are perhaps only taking reasonable latitude in their dealings with the public, and there's no connection between their bribing lobbying members of Congress, to bring about the massive deregulation of industry, and the veritable explosion of outright fraudulent business practices of recent times?

It would be a beneficial exercise for every American to obtain and read a copy of Common Sense (you can read it online, Here).

I feel like Cassandra of Troy, because I've been predicting this outcome at every craven response of Congress to every dastardly ploy by the White House to consolidate all power in the false-president's hands, and to remove all restraint from corporate abuses against the increasingly vulnerable public. But some people will only believe it when they, themselves, have lost everything to tyranny and injustice, and will persist in blaming the ruin of their fellowmen on the victims instead of the perpetrators.

Remember this: the vested interests in this country will not rest until ALL that is ours has been rendered into THEIR hands. Unless we stop them.

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Tell me again that it's all about protecting the HomeLand...
Cause this don't look like Dubbyah is interested in protecting Da Homeland.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/security_grants

Emergency responders face deep aid cuts

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration intends to slash counterterrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year, according to budget documents obtained by The Associated Press.

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Amnesty Writeathon, San Mateo
Announcing that I'm hosting a local Amnesty Writeathon event - a group letter and petition and holiday card-writing day tentatively scheduled for Saturday, December 8th from 12-4 (drop-in) in the Laurel Meeting Room of the San Mateo Library. 55 Third Street, in the downtown, off of South El Camino.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/Individuals_at_Risk/Global_Writeathon/page.do?id=1108452&n1=3&n2=34&n3=65

Designed to coincide with International Human Rights Day, the event involves writing letters, signing petitions, and sending holiday cards to forgotten political prisoners around the world who are persecuted for nonviolently expressing their political or religious or cultural viewpoints. In the past Amnesty has supported democracy activists, environmentalists, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, women's rights activists, and many others. Amnesty is nonpolitical and nonreligious in itself and simply advocates for freedom of expression and against torture, arbitrary jail sentences, the death penalty, etc.

I'll bring cookies, tea, stamps, international Putumayo music, preaddressed envelopes, and some stationery my supervisor gave me today at work to donate to this event.

This is listed on the Amnesty Writeathon web page - already received a couple emails from interested people. All are welcome and we may go out to dinner as a group afterwards if people would like.

In addition to supporting human rights, this event is a great way to network with intelligent, successful professionals! One never knows whose company may be hiring, or who may know of awesome events happening in the SF Bay Area, or who may have great ideas to assist your university's student organization, or who may know someone who knows someone who...etc.

For those unable to make the event in person I can post links in my journal to the letters and petitions we're writing so you can sign on or mail letters of your own (as well as YouTube links of some musical highlights supporting human rights).

Please comment here (or email me) if you are interested and I will keep you posted.

Would be appreciated if some people here helped promote this on Facebook or elsewhere on LJ :)

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Which Presidential Candidate Shares Your Views On the Issues?
Take the quiz at:

http://glassbooth.org/

The answer may surprise you. Or not. But this (or a similar site first) clued me in to the fact that Dennis Kucinich is my Dream President. Why not give it a whirl? It's free, and you don't even have to "register" (translation: give up your name, date of birth, email and snail-mail addresses and two credit references) to take the quiz.

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A Thanksgiving Day Reminder
While you are enjoying your feast of good will and family togetherness, I want you all to remember that you can't trust us White people. You teach us to survive and we'll conquerer your ass! HAR!

Seriously, just be glad you don't live in a shit hole in some other country, no matter how much you hate this one.

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Im throwing my vote away in 2008.
Im gunna vote for Mike Gravel.
He has no chance in hell of winning I am well aware but so far he seems to be the only candidate thats representative of the America that I want to live in and that I eventually would like to pass on to my children.
Plus they give you a sticker when you vote. I dont want to miss out on that just out of some sort of overwhelmingly depressing sence that the voting system does not actually work and thus no matter how I vote it essentially wont matter... STICKER!

Current Mood: amused

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This Video Speaks For Itself
Dennis Kucinich is The Man.



Current Mood: happy

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I'm ashamed......
That personal choice, in America, is slowly being driven into the grave in this country because of the want of a few, who want the government to take care of them.

soylentpurple has allowed me to post this....


A San Francisco Bay Area mother on my friend's list posted pictures of her preschool and kindergarten aged children at a rally the other day over the veto of the SCHIP. She called the tikes "my little activists." The kids were holding signs that read "Healthcare not warfare" and "Keep me healthy." Withholding all comment that I may have about the so-called informed opinions of the tots, knowing that this family has, among other things, a housekeeper, a new home theatre system, recent home remodeling and a slick-ass car, I was incensed and wrote the following in my journal for all to see:

Personal responsibility.
Accountability.
Living within one's means.

It doesn't seem to pay in this country to be responsible. Not when we've got a shitload of bleeding hearts making sure that people who choose to live irresponsibly and who choose to not live within their means are forever victims of "the man."

Case in point: the poster children for the SCHIP. Folks, I give you the Frost Family of Baltimore.

The poor Frost Family. Well not poor because poor people already have Medicaid. SCHIP is about giving insurance to children of middle class people who are too irresponsible to get health insurance. That's why the Democrats have so far only found families such as the Frost's to use as their poster children.

The Frosts. Dad works, sort of. He's decided to pursue his love of woodworking. Mom is at home playing house. They have a gaggle of kids. The patriarch and matriarch of this family support the family by fullfilling their dreams. Group hug everyone.

Now in steps a tragedy. It seems little Graeme has had a terrible accident. He's generated lots of medical bills. The government of the United States of America is called upon. We have to help these people. Because, afterall, mom and dad can't afford health insurance. He's just a simple woodworker, pursuing his passion, trying to make ends meet. All hail SCHIP.

Cue violin music.

But wait. It turns out that the Frost Family, the poster family for all that is wrong with America according to the bleeding hearts, isn't quite in the dire straits we would imagine. It seems Papa Frost forgot to mention that he owns some commercial property. It seems Papa Frost also forgot to mention the fact that his kids are in private school. Papa Frost's income is at least $45,000 a year in a city where according to Wikipedia the median income for a family is $35,438. Oh, and how many cars do they own? Multiple. So why exactly didn't they buy health insurance? *scratches head* Greed? Intense desire to take advantage of the system? Scammers? Well-meaning incompetence? Your guess is as good as mine.

Any wonder why the bleeding hearts are actively seeking another poster family to wave in front of America for the SCHIP? Oh wait, I've got one. A family in the San Francisco Bay Area. Husband works. Wife at home. Three cute young boys. The other day they put a couple of the cherubs out on a street corner at a rally holding up signs that read "Keep me healthy" and "Healthcare not warfare." (Reading preamble to Constitution, finding bit about "providing for the common defense", not finding anything about the state buying health insurance for families with home theatre systems and housekeepers.) Why are they looking to the current administration for their healthcare needs? They have a big flat screen TV, a video game console and a housekeeper. The wife is a self-described shopaholic. Maybe the wife should get a job. Don't even get me started on whether a preschooler knows anything about domestic policy to even understand the concept of entitlement spending. Perhaps if his parents described the SCHIP in terms of freeloaders and thieves, that preschooler's sign would have (and should have) read "Buy my health insurance because my parents would rather spend their money on a car with GPS and a DVD player, fancy home electronics and a housekeeper." There couldn't be a better image as to exactly why the SCHIP was vetoed.

What's next? Do the taxpayers have to pay for Lindsay Lohan's rehab, too? How about Paris Hilton's prescriptions? For all the partying they do this nation can't expect those young girls to pay for their medical issues too.

Which leads me to the difference between a need and a want. Why does this concept seem so damn difficult for Americans today? Maybe because parents would rather thrust their kids on a street corner portrayed as victims rather than teach them this basic principle. I *need* health insurance. I *want* a home theatre system. I *need* flood insurance. I *want* a boat. (Wanna know where that last example came from? You guessed it: another "victim" of the man. Some guy in the midwest who lives near a river owns a slick-assed boat with multiple engines on it. Yup, it is a mighty pretty boat, too. But when the river he lived near flooded his house this past summer, NBC News was quick to hold him in front of America as a victim to be pitied because he didn't have flood insurance and lost his home. He probably wants his kids to be covered by SCHIP, too.)

When I had my first child (we were lower middle class then) we had to pay for all of his well child checks and immunizations out of pocket because our insurance didn't cover that first year. Did I go and stand on a corner with a sign demanding money? Nope, I accepted that financial responsibility when I had my child. Of course it pisses me off that people who can't afford kid number one feel entitled to make kid number two and get their immunizations and checkups for free because they're poor. And stupid. And irresponsible. Now we've got middle class families demanding that the taxpayers cover their kids' healthcare too because they'd rather be spending their money on the stuff that they want, not the stuff they need. Hmm....SUV or health insurance? Why is that even a question for these people? Apparently it is legitimate enough for the bleeding hearts to demand policy change with the clear message to the cherub on the corner of "I work so I can have the stuff I want. I expect the government to give me the stuff I need."

Everyone's a victim. It's never anyone's fault. Blame the Bush Administration. If liberals have their way there will apparently be no personal accountability in this country. Let's all be irresponsible. I can see that will surely make this a better place to live.

People need to learn personal responsibility and accountability. People need to stop playing the victim. People need to trash their sense of entitlement and take care of their own needs instead of putting first the want of an X-Box, a flat screen television, bling and/or a Cadillac Escalade. Get a frigging clue and stop looking to the federal government to wipe your collective ass. It is time to grow up and conduct yourselves in a more responsible fashion.



What do you think? Is health care in this country a personal responsibility or the Governments? I would argue that its our own responsibility to get insurance.  If you can't afford it okay, but if your making over $41,000 a year and you don't have health insurance then its your fault if you can't take care of  your child if he/she has a catastrophic health problem.   If you don't earn more than $41,000 a year and your child has a catastrophic health problem then, Yes, your children have every right to use SCHIP.  There are plans out there that are reasonable and affordable.  You, though, who make the wrong decisions when it comes to health care are at fault if you have the ability to cover yourself and your family with health Insurance, not the tax payers in this country who work hard to cover their family with it.

Current Mood: bored

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