teddys wild eyed conspiracy theories

Consider the following. Is there a connection between the fact that the same year the U.S. Government ended the draft the Big Corporations started sending American Jobs to Mexico and Taiwan. Think about this, since 1974 there has been a constant and persistent propaganda campaign espousing the virtue of self-reliance and personal initiative like it was a religion and the preacher was Ronald Reagan .

Jimmy Carter decided Taiwan was not going to be our friend anymore and that China was going to be our New Partner. Then more of the American manufacturing jobs went to mexico and China. Carter knew what was going on and did his best to help. 1980 Ronald Reagan started his Revolution and Bill Clinton did his best to send the rest of the jobs south with NAFTA.

Then Real President Dick Cheany made a Deal with the Wall Street Smoothies to run the economy into the ground while the price of Higher Education climbed into the stratosphere. But Why?

Think about this. The best way to make sure there are plenty of healthy, smart and eager young men and women stepping up to volunteer to serve in the U.S. Military is to make sure it is the most attractive option available or in a lot of cases Thanks to the much whined about, but starved for cash, public school system there are plenty of young people with only one option, again Military service.

Sound crazy? Where does the Golden boy President Barack Obama think he is going to get 30,000 soldiers to send over to Afghanistan. Well the same place The War Monger in Chief Geo. Bush got the 40,000 to send to Iraq from the millions of under educated and unemployed American youth. It is a good trick no draft riots like the Vietnam war and because of the tremendous advances in Electronic Warfare, casualties low enough that the American Public would tolerate The War for years.

Consider some cold hard facts. It is costing a million dollars a year to keep a Soldier or Soldierette in the Iraq or Afghanistan take your pick as Our Obama has promised to get us out of both Wars. Big Disappointment Our Obama in Washington has Partnered with the Miliatary Idustrial Complex to keep The War going, to a flexible withdrawal date[ more bullspit]. Here is some more BullSpit from My Lord Barack he had plenty of money for the Wall Street Smoothies, plenty of Money for GM who has been selling out the Auto Workers for thirty years, but when it came to Job programs he says, Whoa limited funds. Why? again, to make the Military the most attractive option.

I hate to contradict all the conservative talking heads, but the American Taxpayer is not really paying for The War because The American Taxpayer was Tapped a long time ago. The Feds have been swapping Digital Money with the Military Contractors for since 1991. So why would The War ever stop. it won't because it is a war for profit and and has been ever since the Korean War. President Eisenhower warned us about the Military Industrial Complex and he was right and he will continue to be right as there is no reason to believe The War will be over by 2012.

It will be interesting to listen to a Nobel Peace Prize winner explain why he has escalated what should have been an Air War into a Surge Ground War. It will be even more interesting to see if Sarah Palin is truly Going Rouge or is just another pretty face for the Propaganda Machine. Stay tuned for the future.

Welcome back to the future/or New Century Capitlism

Unfortunately there is a historical shift that started with Henry Ford. The economy of scale. Big Business took over long ago and it is the Goal of the Corporation's with their whore the Federal and State governments to drive out the small business person because the economy of scale is to small with a small business but it is enough to steal the crumbs from the corporate table, and the Modern Robber Barons will not stand for one penny escaping their greedy grasp.

Now our President Barack Obama who is loved every where in the world but America and you can thank the News entertainment Industry for that because The Negative sells. Just ask TV producer Norman Lear the creator of All in the Family the show that started the Nasty Family which ended up giving us Family Ties and Everyone Loves Raymond. TV turning family from Sacred to an object of scorn and ridicule all in the name of profit at any cost.

Traditional Family Values have been turned into a marketing tool along with fear. The Advertising media long ago hired Physiologists to identify fear triggers and the advertisers have exploited those fears in their commercials until we have a public scared to death of germs, bad breath and haunted by the spectre of Home Invasion. The home has been invaded all right , but by the most powerful device ever invented by man The Television.

Back to President Obama he and what passes for Democratic Leadership want to bring universal health care to the 97% of us that are not Wealthy and the Captian's of the Health Insurance are fighting tooth and nail to keep the Rest of Us poor and sick. I have seen in my life time Hospitals go from an institutions that healed the sick and comforted the dying into a Industry that treats the Patient like a mechanic treats a car and with the same compassion.

The Corporate Chieftains keep us healthy enough so we can keep working so they can milk us like a herd of cows every month. I urge all the Free Market Fanatics to look around you have been Had. There are no free markets. The top 3% in this country that control 97% of the wealth. The people at Goldman and Sachs that took home multimillion dollar bonuses this year. To them there is no Liberal or Conservative , There is no Democrat and Republican. To them we are no more than sheep to to be sheared for their profit at any cost. America sliced diced packaged and sold.

One man President Obama is standing up to these People to these Industries and to the Special Interests groups and he is being mocked and ridiculed. The Lobbyists are flying to the offices of our Elected Repersentives like Demons with promises of wealth and power seducing our Senators and Repersentives to feed their greed. Former Senator Bill Fisk a doctor who was a leader in Health Care reform until he retired from politics and now is the Lead Lobbyist for the Association of Health care Companies. From Doctor to Whore. This is what passes for Captialism in the new century.

when is to much enough or when does it stop

The horrific rape and beating of a 15 year girl at a school homecoming dance last week in California happens with gruesome regularity in this country. What made this one different was the number of people who watched and actually called their Friends to come over and join them. How many bodies are found on the streets of America everyday? How many times are we told it is gang related or drug related and there does not seem to be any difference between the two.

Whenever a crime like this happens our elected repersentives such as the President or the Governor of the state always tell the press that " It would not be appropriate for me to comment on this issue. " Excuse me, I can think of no one more appropriate than President Obama to comment on these horrific crimes. We elected him to lead. The fact is they are never asked by the news media to comment on these acts of Brutality that take place daily on the streets of America.

When will Americans have enough of this Nation running scared of the Big gangs like the Crips and the Bloods and the Spanish Gangs? What if President Obama were to have the National Guard go out and round up all the Gang Members in the country and put them in Detainment Camps? Who would object? These Gang Members have sworn an oath to live by their own rules to take what they want and kill anyone who stands in their way. Why should we let them live among us?

The most disturbing part of this incident was the fact that so many men stood around and watched it and did not find it a horrible event to behold. Has the Prison/Gang culture in the Ghettos of America become so pervasive and normal that this kind atrocity is entertaining? Even the most Devout Atheist must surely look at this incident and find it to be evil.

The day will come when in the name of the People the President of the United States will have to declare Martial Law in our cities and start confining the Gangs in camps away from the rest of society. There will be those who will fight for their rights and file law suits in the courts. They will argue that we are opening the door for a Benevolent Dictator to take over, but I do not agree.

We the People have a right to live in a society where we do not have to be afraid. In a Country where we feel Justice is being served to those who deserve it. When will our elected officials who we have entrusted to protect us start doing their job and stand up to these Gangs of Predators that stalk the streets of our cities? This is not an issue that can be looked at with Academic Detachment it is an issue that has to be faced and action taken Now. Before another teenage girl raped and beaten while her attackers stand by and watch.

the straw man burns or nu wy dwn

The Straw Men in our American society are all burning. GM has been crying for twenty years that they could not make a profit because of the " Unions " . It is odd though that when the Executive Timber at GM had to decide which car line to drop they choose the Saturn"

This is the car company that twenty years ago GM set-up as the Car Company of the Future. It was set-up on the Japanese Model, " No Unions " managers and engineers had offices on the shop floor. This begs the question if the " Unions " were the problem why are they closing the only car company they own that has no " Unions" ?

Could it be that the profit in small, reliable , fuel efficient[ Japanese model] cars is not big enough? Could it be that GM wants to build only 50,000 dollar gas guzzling pick-up trucks because there is more profit in them. The "Unions " have always been a Straw Man for the big corporations to blame for everything. While Dividends Shrank , Executive Compensation has grown exceptional.

Let us look at another Straw Man " The Customer " Wal-mart is the leader in this one. Every morning their employees have to " Pledge in the name of Sam " that the customer is the most important person in their life today. The Big Corporations have run the Internal Customer scam for a long time, but Wal-mart has taken it to a new level with an Evangelical Zeal.

Why is the Customer a Straw Man because the Customer is the only thing left. The Wall Street Smoothies have stolen all the money that was left, America does not manufacture much anymore, so we are all turning into each others customers passing the Same Money back and forth to each other. This is the Wal-mart Model and it is the future of America

In ten Years we will all be working for about the same money everyone from Janitors to Computer Techs, Teachers to Managers will be making between 30,000 and 50,000 dollars a year. The American Dream that each generation will do better than their parents generation stops with the Baby Boomers. Our Children and Grand Children will not live better than their Parents. This is not a Bad thing because we live pretty good. I forgot to mention the Top 3% of the population[ the Wealthy] will probably be living in palaces by then and behaving like the Uncrowned Royalty they believe they are.


People 35 and under Text instead of talk, their friends are on the Internet. Every interest , every desire and shopping too done in Virtual Worlds until the Virtual is preferred over Reality. Truly a world their parents will never understand or appreciate.

So as the American Culture of Materialism Dies starved to death due to lack of money , accommodation and interest. A New American Culture of Virtual Life Rises it is going to be very interesting to see where this goes. With Japanese/ Chinese leading the Consumer Electronic Revolution one can only imagine how Real the Virtual Can Be.

The private world of public education

The New york Times printed a story Friday that gave an inside look into the politics of public education, though I do not think that was the newspapers intention. It seems that the Chancellor of schools in NYC Joel E Klein has closed a number of poor performing schools. This of course is the conservative dream, I always find it ironic that the conservative dream stops there. The reality is that there are now thousands of students and hundreds of teachers in NYC that now have nowhere to go when school starts. It seems that the better performing schools are all full of better performing students.Well who knew?

The teachers can not be fired because the Taylor Law not the Teachers Union provides for a lengthy process for firing public employees especially when there is no cause. The Administrators at the public schools in NYC have been given a budget and are responsible for hiring their own teachers. This is a quote from the NYT, I find the choice of words interesting as has been my experience that administrators always feel as if they literally own the people who work under them.

The problem is that these Administrators want to keep costs down by hiring younger teachers who do not make as much money as teachers who have seniority. So these older teachers are assigned to a sub pool and sent out to different schools everyday, and NYC is a big place. I wonder how the Administrators would feel about being sent to a different school everyday?

So we have the old system giving way to the new system and these older teachers are caught in the middle. The new system is really a Shuck&Jive shell game called whose got the Blame. There is a reason why Willie can not read and the reason is because Willie does not want to read. That is the ugly truth. Expensive and complex studies have been done on this subject, the strongest reason is Willie has a bad home life with poor role models, but no public official wants to lay the blame at the door of any ethnic group as this spawns a whole new set of expensive and complex studies into Racism in Education.

So unelected public officials play the blame game and the teachers are the victim this time around.{which is Propaganda at its worst a generation ago teachers were a valuable asset.} Before them, it was crumbling falling down school buildings and play grounds that were portrayed as third world hovels with incompetent teachers inside. The magic words "Federal Money' were uttered and millions were poured into renovations of the public schools, so now it is just the teachers left holding the Blame Bag.

The new system of Public Education is pretty slick it kills two birds with one stone. Make the School Principals responsible for hiring so he or she can be fired for poor performing teachers. Hire Young teachers on one year contracts with salary and health insurance , but no tenure and no pension so their contracts will not be renewed when the are needed to be blamed. This assumes that there will be a never ending supply of School Principles and Teachers to blame and fire. This is a big assumption.

Despite the fact the Conservatives and Republicans hate the Teachers and their Unions. Teachers are very smart people and they can easily switch professions and a few years of teaching experience is like gold on a Professional Resume. But I would like to suggest a different scenario.

Brazil and Bolivia to take just two examples will probably be two of the richest countries in the world over next fifty years. Brazil because of the discovery of the Biggest Oil Field ever discovered off the coast of Brazil and Bolivia because it has Lithium deposits that are so huge the geologists can not measure them and Lithium is the key ingredient in the batteries that will power the electric cars of the future. Third World countries looking to be world class.

Suppose the Governments of these countries were to offer American teachers Handsome salaries, Pensions and oh by the way some Respect to relocate and teach in their countries. Relocate into growing communities where a teacher was important and respected who worked with students that wanted to learn and achieve. Despite the cherished belief of the Conservative Republican true believers that teachers are the Problem not the Solution. Most teachers love teaching. It is what they have always wanted to do , It is their passion. Suppose they started to leave for better offers and some appreciation for the important job they do? Hey that's the American way.

Think it can not happen? Check out the number of Computer software and hardware designers and engineers who are moving to India for more Money and Stability in their careers or the number of health insurance companies that are sending patients to India for expensive operations because it costs so much less there.

America stands at a cross roads right now. The past two years have shown how the Wall Street Smoothies who practise fraud under the guise of free market capitalism have bankrupted the whole country. Do we as nation allow this to continue until we have devolved into a third world country with a Mexican style government where corruption,poverty and violence are part of everyday life. There is another way and we should find it before it is to late. Before Glenn beck is elected President for Life with Sarah Palin as his Vice President for life. The Conservative Republican Dream Team or the end of America as we knew it.

Residential Segregation the Final Frontier

August 23 1968 martian Luther king had a dream " That his children would be judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin." The dream came true. Millions of white people across the country judged their neighbors by the content of their character and voted with their feet catching the next plane out on White Flight to the suburbs.

Quote from the NYT "This week a federal court ruled that the county of Westchester NY will be compelled to create hundreds of houses and apartments for moderate-income people in overwhelmingly white communities and aggressively market them to nonwhites in Westchester and New York City."

The use of the words Compel and Create are interesting. Does the court think that someone is going to wave a magic wand and say the magic words ' Federal Money " and apartment houses are just going to appear in the middle of affluent communities. These apartments also have to be " Permanently Affordable."what this means is the developers and builders are going to build a ghetto using Federal Money.

This all started because Westchester county applied for a Federal Block Grant for community development. That opened the door to be sued by the Anti-Discrimination Center, which filed the lawsuit. With the blessing of the Justice Dept and the Federal Housing Administration. What started all this litigation in the first place?

Perhaps it was this statement “This is consistent with the president’s desire to see a fully integrated society,” said Ron Sims, the deputy secretary of housing and urban development, which helped broker the settlement along with the Justice Department. “Until now, we tended to lay dormant. This is historic, because we are going to hold people’s feet to the fire.”

This begs the question " Which peoples feet, to what fire" Are we to assume that the citizens of Westchester county have been with malice and forethought keeping African-Americans and Hispanics out of their county? It has been my experience that people generally live where they can afford to live whether they like it or not.

Here is another zesty quote from the NYT "A federal monitor, James E. Johnson, has been appointed to ensure that the county abides by the settlement. Given that 120,000 acres in the county meet the criteria, the monitor “should have no difficulty making sure that Westchester ends its policy of allowing affordable housing to be off-limits in the most highly white neighborhoods in the county,” Mr. Gurian said."

A Federal Monitor? This is like some sci-fi novel about a forced social utopia except it happening for real right here in NYS. It is plain to see the agenda President Barack Obama has for America. It would have been nice if he had shared this agenda with the voters during the primaries . If this is how Barack Obama plans to heal the Racial Divide in this country, It may just make the situation much worse.

Fifty years of Racial Integration failures has proved that the government can not force people to like each other. No matter how much of the milk of human kindness is spilled people live where they choose to, they associate with the people they like and they send their children to the schools they feel are best. Freedom of choice is what the founding fathers believed in and it is what this country is based on. It is inherently wrong for American government to try and change those basic rights.

The strange case of Henry" gatemouth" Gates

I watched alot of the CNN coverage of the Prof. Henry " gatemouth" Gates televised arrest. After hearing our President Barack Obama comment about the Stupid Cambridge police force. I thought it would have been nice if President Obama had let America know his views on race before we voted for him. Not to be outdone the Black Governor of Massachusetts Patrick Deval announced that all citizens should have the right to shout at policemen in their homes.

This is very broad minded of the Governor, though I would not recommend shouting at police officers as I have noticed the police usually will give you all the attention you are asking for when you shout racist slogans at them.

Which brings us to Prof. "Gatemouth" Gates. Why would a man of his so-called educational status get into a racist shouting match with a police officer who is investigating a legitimate burglary complaint. I am usually impressed with educational achievements but it is sad when the Elite act so childish.

My feeling is Prof. Gates wanted to get arrested. He was not going to let police Sgt. Crowley leave until he had a camera ready and he was put in handcuffs. Here is a man who by his own admission has lived in an educational cocoon all his life. A man who has built his Carreer on cataloging and exploiting the stereotype of black Americans, but has never lived the black life himself. Now is his chance to prove to himself and all his African-American colleagues that he is a true victim of Racial Discrimination Finally. The Professor has been awarded many scholarships and opportunities because he is African - American. I wonder why he does not talk about that part of Being Black in America?

Let us leave rhetoric behind for the present and look at those pesky facts. When The police were on their way to Gatemouth's house they called Harvard Campus Police because the house is Campus Housing. When the police got there the good Professor was calling Harvard maintenance to come fix his front door. WHY because Harvard owns the house, Gates just lives in it. So it maybe his residence but it is not his house.

Police Officers generally can not enter you home unless they have a search warrant or you ask them to come in . Which is why the police officer asked him to step outside because Gatemouth was yelling racist slogans at him from his kitchen, two men were reported trying to break in to the house but the police only see one. Where is the other man? If you were a Police Officer would you have been suspicious?

The CNN talking heads were the best though after talking all day about this Racial Incident. The white talking head turns to the black talking head and says " well, I see now this is not a Racial Incident we have been talking about the wrong subject". Then they proceeded to launch into speculation about it being the fault of the woman who called the police and said " Two Black Men " . How this set into motion the profiling that caused this tragic incident. The longer it went on the funnier it got.

This whole incident has shown I believe how the Propaganda Machine works, how our President calibrates his words to start controversy. He knew exactly what he was saying and the effect it would have. CNN ran with it and kept changing the Propaganda just like a scene out of George Orwell's 1984.

We have reached in America a tipping point when it comes to Black and White relations. White people have moved on and are grappling with the real problems of living in the real world of America in 2009. The African - Americans are still living in 1967. Talking about prejudice and discrimination and rights. We all know living in the past is never good. There are going to be more so-called racial incidents and they will be less and less relevant until no one cares at all.

Apolgies to the blues guitarist Clarence " Gatemouth " Brown

the new counter culture/ or gang nation

Let us turn on the way back machine to 1979 South Africa. Apartheid is the Cause Dejour The evil of P.W Botha and the tragic suffering of the residents of Soweto were more than civilized people could stand. So people who knew nothing about the real situation in South Africa were calling their brokers and divesting from any investment in South Africa, Universities and state governments did the same all in the name of humanity.Everyone felt so good about being so noble that they would put human rights ahead of filthy lucre. Never mind this travesty of justice was occurring in at least three other places in the world. Apartheid was the Cause of the Moment.

Well the story had a happy ending almost. Nelson Mandela was set free and elected president it was Morning in South Africa [excuse me I am being a bore that was Ronald Reagan's line]. Let us fast forward to 2009 South Africa is a very different place. The white people live in luxury golf communities with high stone walls and Private armed security that shoots to kill. The middle class whites hit the road back 30 years earlier.

The rest of the people live in worse conditions than before. The murder rate in S. Africa is 8x that of the USA. Rape and Robbery are so common and the police are so in effective that significant amount of crime goes unreported. Municipal services are at minimum and the Current president of S. Africa Jacob Zuma encourages vigilante groups to enforce the law. It would be hard to believe that this is what Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu envisioned 30 years ago.

Why is this story so important because we are developing in this country the good old USA a Gang and prison culture that is dangerous and growing . The names are familiar the Bloods and the Crips, Latin kings and M-13. We now have generational gang and prison culture that are becoming a legitimate way of life . Gangs are about money, drug and violence. They are parts of every city in America where the police have just about given up on preventing crime they just try and contain it.

It is hard to understand that given all the programs for minority students to go to college free and the amount of positive propaganda that they prefer street life. In all the major cities in America there are gated communities with armed security[sound familiar] The rest of the people have fled from the cities to live normal lives in decent suburban communities.

The question is where does this stop? In twenty years will the gangs be more powerful ? Will they start expanding out? What will it take to stop them. People really do not want to see news footage of riot police gunning down gang members in the streets. How third world is that? Is this the kind of America we want to live in ? these are questions that can not be answered at this time. The future will provide the answers, but if there is no change in the way America handles the Gang and Prison culture I think they will be answers we will not like .

One last ride in the old chevy

Goodbye to Hollywood , Goodbye to G.M. Our president has ordered G.M. into bankruptcy court and we are promised a whole new G.M. when they are done. I may be cynical, but it looks to me like G.M. has just met two of its dearest goals. Bust the union and shift the cost of the retirees on to the taxpayers. In the business world this is called " externalizing costs" in the real world it means sticking someone else with the bill. That someone is us.

It looks like the people who are not going to be saved in this court ordered transfiguration is the auto workers. Who in part were the author of their own misfortunes, but the UAW did not make the stupid decisions that ruined the biggest car company in the world. That prize goes to the Executive Timber who only knew one rule profit at any cost.

One has to wonder if G.M is closing 14 more auto plants how many can be left? If the are going to lay off 21,000 employees who is going to make all the sporty fuel efficient and reliable cars? Who is going to buy them, the people with no jobs? It will be interesting to see how in the world they are now going to make a world class now when they could not for the past 40 years.

Some of the answers are interesting. The cars are going to be made in Mexico by our Mexican Friends, [So this is what NAFTA was all about.] and shipped back to the good old USA, so if you like the idea of buying an American car you should start thinking Honda and Toyota especially if you like sporty, fuel efficient and reliable cars. Oh sorry that was G.M.s slogan. Do not forget all those auto workers and their friends and families they would walk the streets of hell barefoot before they would buy a Chevy.

Which begs another question. Between running Dietech mortgage company and GMAC financing maybe G.M. wants to be in the money business with cars as a sideline. After decades of perfecting the art of explaining failure and blame gaming it looks like the Suits [meaning faceless executives who get paid a fortune to talk and say nothing] have milked the last nickle out of Good old G.M and are tossing to the husk to President Obama. Who in 6 months is going to wish he had stayed out of the auto business and let G.M. fail. Personally I think it is G.M.s milatary production that saved it.

It would not take much for Toyota to take over the military vehicle production they certainly have the engineering and facilities. Just think our next war could be fought with Toyota Sequoias and Tundra trucks. It is getting harder to remember the Japanese lost the war. Or did they?

The silence is deafening

I stopped drinking Diet Coke two weeks ago in an effort to lose weight. I could not figure out for the longest time how Diet Pop could make one fat. I mean it is a Diet drink. Until I realized that the Aspartame that is put in Diet Pop creates a craving for sugar that it can never satisfy. So one just keeps drinking more and more. Now that the craving for sugar has been started and not satisfied starch becomes the next best sugar food. What a coincidence that Diet Pop is right there when one gets pizza, french fries and chips. Just a reminder sugar is not unhealthy.

There are many moments of outrage in the story of Aspartame. the first one is that until Ronald Reagan took office the FDA would not approve Aspartame for human consumption. Reagan had to replace the commissioner of the FDA with a new commissioner to get it approved. Oh by the way the new commissioner quit shortly afterward and took a position in the public relations firm that represents Coca-Cola. That must be what they mean by business as usual.

The next outrage is the fact that the chemists and corporate suits knew that Aspartame would create greater consumption of all products containing it. the main drive is to get people to drink beverages with only Aspartame. notice Coke 1 Pepsi 1 this is because the chemists have figured out how to get rid of the bitter taste, so now they are trying to market the old product as a new product.

This is because Aspartame is much cheaper than sugar or corn syrup in beverages, so there is more profit in every can or bottle. Everybody is happy. Except for the nasty side effects and the fact that people are getting fat drinking the stuff.

The last outrage is that the story of Aspartame can be repeated for many of the foods we eat and drink. We see it everyday on TV and the Internet about the problems in our food supply and the additives that are put in. Yet we go blissfully along believing that it is all OK we ate and drank and did not not die so it must be just fine, besides it tastes good and I like it. Isn't that what smokers tell themselves??

There is nothing the average person can do, but it is interesting that we do not even care. We have been so indoctrinated by the advertisers and marketers that we accept what ever we are given and eat it and drink it and never question.

I wonder what it would take before the buying public stopped buying a product it finally realized was unhealthy and possibly deadly?

Take me out to the ball game or Gush forth my tears

The Bankers have been getting a lot of bad press lately especially Bernie Madoff who was not really a Banker but played one on TV. These fine feathered fellows are not really Bankers in the real sense of the word . What they were and still are is salesmen who have a financial background so what they sell is money in any convoluted form they can dream up. Even though they are the scourge of society right now they will be back in a couple of years wearing sheep's clothing with some new scam. You see our swindler's and con-man of the new century are college educated. I would guess this is one of the negative benefits of higher education.

The Boys I really feel sorry for are the so-called professional athletes. These fellas have been raised on nothing but pure adoration and toys since high school. The NFL, NBA, MLB the Big Three where players are paid fantastic sums of money to employ their mighty finely honed skills beating up a Ball. My but won't that be useful when it comes to trying make a real living.

The world of professional sports is in for a huge shock that actually started last season. I like football so I watch the NFL games, but what to my disbelieving eyes did I see last season? Half filled stadiums!!?? so many commercials so often that if one does not have DVR. Watching one game can burn up 4 hours[who has that kind of time]of mind numbing commercials interspersed with lame plays on the field because the players had to wait so long on the field between the commercials that even they lost the flow of the game.

Bear with me on this. What I believe we are going to see going forward in all three major league sports is a huge drop in live attendance and drop in viewers which are all counted by the minute by our cable and satellite boxes[hi Mr. Orwell] sponsors only pay for eyeballs. Ours not the crying eyes of spoiled rotten athletes who egos are so huge that they are like crack heads who can never go straight and live like the rest of us.

What about all the money they have made?? Well when you have 3 mansions and a fleet of cars and trucks to ferry your entourage of losers around money goes fast and pleasure even faster. So what is going to happen to these Boys when the party is over? Some will probaly try the Micheal Vick school of Dog fighting and they will rot in jail & hell with him. But I believe most of these professional athletes will just work for less money.!!!

I know it is hard to believe but consider this. There has been a growing shortage of skilled workers and professional athletes are highly skilled in a very narrow area. the younger players coming up want even more money than the players leaving. One solution is keep the players they have working Longer for Less money. One can see this trend with quarterbacks. The age of the average quarterback is 38. That was unheard of even a decade ago

Let us take this a step further. This shortage of skilled experienced people in all fields blue collar pink collar and white collar is just as real and getting worse. Since finance has been the glamour job of the past twenty years we have a huge shortage of Engineers and physicists and teachers and nurses ect. Since college has gotten so expensive for the middle class fewer middle class kids are going to college meaning even more shortages, and older more experienced people usually want more money and plan to retire and enjoy life.

What to do hmmm. How about cutting the value of the stock market by 50%. So the 401ks people were forced to take after the traditional pension plans were dropped because the cost the corporations to much money. Now are worth much less so those older experienced workers can not retire but have to keep working until who knows when [hello again Mr. Orwell]. The bonus is they will also work for less. Because they have to. That big house they bought is now worth a lot less but the payment has not gone down and the taxes keep going up.

Think about this. In 2008 the CEO of Frontier corp here in Rochester received a 74% increase in pay while the people who actually work for Frontier are working 12 days for free in 2009 or risk layoffs and there has been no cost of living raise. It is not hard to understand where the CEOs money came from.

Our Governer Blind David Patterson is singing the Blues about the public employees while fighting like a tiger to not raise taxes on the Rich. I got some news for the Guv the problem is not public employees or the Rich it is the consultants and contractors who milk the state like a it was a Guernsey cow. It is all the Bonds the state has floated over the years, the interest is coming due and is paid out of tax revenue. That is the other problem since NYS has done such a fine job driving business and people out of the state there is a permanent drop in tax revenue.

Everyone knows that the income of the top 3% of the people in this country has sky rocketed over the past 20 years. The talking heads on CNN and Fox agree on that. The conservatives and Liberals agree on it, and we all agree that it is not going to change.

I think we all feel that This trend is well established . So we can all expect to work longer and for less money while that dream of retiring and enjoying life drifts farther down the line. While the Government whips up more propaganda to make us all feel better about being exploited even more,and those fine feathered bankers wearing sheep's clothing will come up with another scheme so we can believe that some day we will be Rich Too. [there goes that Orwell fellow again].

Rush to Limbo or the Fatman Cometh

Rush Limbaugh was getting quite a bit of press a few weeks ago it was disturbing to see what passes for leadership in the Republican party genuflecting and apologising to him for any unkind word or thought they might have said or thought about him. Considering that Mr. Limbaugh is a master propagandist who has legion of Ditto Heads dancing to what ever tune he calls. I hope the Republicans like to dance in 2012. Let us leave Mr Limbaugh for the moment high atop the E.I.B. building.

Fresno California there has seen a staggering increase in tent cities springing up in the metro area. The people in these tents are not drug addicts or alcoholic bums. These are people who were living large and lost their jobs and then lost everything else. These are not welfare bums sucking off the systems. These are educated skilled people who hit bottom fast and have nowhere to live. In these tent cities one of the biggest problems is no toilets no running water and prostitution. This is important because this is how epidemics start.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking the federal government to step in and do a Katrina type rescue of these folks. This because the state is broke. This scenario is occurring all over the country in the major cities. What happens in seven months when winter sets in or this summer in the southern cities when the temperature is unbearably hot.

What happens if all the cautiously optimistic economists are wrong and the economy does not start to create jobs and restart consumption. What if there are more job losses, foreclosures and auto repositions. We all know what a gamble President Obama is taking by pumping a Trillion dollars into the economy. Inflation could be running rampant in 12 to 18 months.

The interesting part is unlike 1972 when we went off the gold standard and Richard Nixon pumped three billion dollars into the economy those were real paper dollars. In 2009 it is digits on computer screens not real money that can be spent for food clothing and shelter.

What we have is the potential for a tremendous amount of anger and desperate people who do not care anymore about politics. People who played by the rules and worked hard and were cheated by the Wall St. Smoothies who cashed in their 401ks for them and took the money, who gave them mortgages to buy houses they could not afford, and credit cards they could not handle. people who feel they have nothing to lose.

This is where Rush Limbaugh comes in. Rush is already trying to focus the anger and desperation on President Obama. With the party of No., Excuse me I am being a bore. I mean the Republican party. He is trying to derail the efforts of the very people who are actually trying to to something real about the problems instead of sputtering on about the road to socialism.

The real danger is the man behind Mr. Limbaugh. Karl Rove, do not not recognize the name,no surprise he has worked very hard to stay in the shadows. He was Bush the IIs most important adviser who along with Dictator Dick Cheney started a war for profit and deregulated the commercial banking industry until it went bankrupt.

Over the next 12 months I believe we will be moving closer to either socialism or a dictatorship . The page of history is being turned and written at the same time. It is going to be a dramatic change as we go from a lifestyle that was unsustainable to a lifestyle that is sustainable. So hold on I have a feeling it is going to be a rough ride.

The Bruised fruit of the Reagan Revloution

And on the 8th day Reagan said let it be Morning in America and it was. I liked Ronald Reagan he was a great leader. So we start the 1980s with slogans like " Government is the problem not the cure." " Deregulation will unshackle free markets. " and of course " USA,USA" This was also the beginning of talk/hate radio. Hello Mr. Limbaugh, and born again Christians praying to Jesus for a tax cut for the rich so rising tides will lift all boats equally. My MY but it was a grand time for propaganda.

It was also the beginning of turning economics into a moral issue with the creation of the Conservative vs Liberal scam which has made the aforementioned Mr Limbaugh and his kindred very wealthy. Let me state for the record. Supply side economics, the Savings and Loan bailout and the present Wall Street Bailout. Never has been, is not now, nor will be in the future a Conservative or Liberal Issue.

Since 1972 when this country went off the gold standared. It has been about defrauding the American taxpayer. Forget about blue collar, white collar and welfare queens. That has been propaganda to keep the attention off of the Multinational corporations and the Wall Street Banks. I would like to remind my Conservative and Republican Friends that ever since 1970 this country has been run by the Republican party along with the every businessman's friend Bill Clinton. The exception being Jimmy Carter who tried to restore some integrity back in government and we all know how we he was scorned for his effort.

Conservative and Liberal issues are Abortion, Legalizing drugs , Gay rights and Prayer in schools. Economics have nothing to do with those issues. These are issues that are decided by people based on their religious and moral beliefs or lack therefore of. One only has to look at the over crowed courts and prisions to realize there is a significant number of people in this country who have no morals at all.

In 2009 there will be a war going on in America. It will be a war of Propaganda vs Truth. The Republicans are going to try and hold on to whatever shreds of belief they still have in Reaganism but it will not work as it was all a scam from the start. When Rush Limbaugh and Joe the Plumber are the featured speakers at the Republican party's annual convention you can see how far the mighty have fallen.

This will be a sideshow though compared to the propaganda offense Big Business is going to be putting on. There was a small sampling of it during the football season this year. Howie Long in his Chevy Silverado sneering at the owners of Ford and Toyota trucks and telling them they were not real men . Remember GM sells lifestyle not quality.

It will get very nasty as the year goes bye. The Big Advertising agencies will be turning out all kinds of media warning YOU about the menace of Socialism and Liberalism. Big Business is going to push the game of divide and conquer as far and as hard as they can. If the American people really realized how the Upper Class in this country looks down in disgust at the rest of America they would be shocked.

In the end though Barack Obama and the rest of us little people will win because the culture we have created in America is unsustainable and we have run out of money to sustain it. A page of history is being turned and a whole new way of life is going to happening. Ironically it a way of life that is going to be alot like the 1970s. Welcome to the future past.

For all those who missed it the Great Depression again

There have been a lot of comparisons to our present economic condition and the Great Depression of the 1930s and for good reasons. I think there is going to be some interesting variations this time around. One new wrinkle is we are going to see many professional people taking jobs that at one time they considered beneath them. Such as former corporate executives managing a McDonald's. Software engineers working a Internet retailers help desk. Educational administrators teaching in the classroom again. The list goes on in every field. The two fields where the shortage has been most severe, Teaching and Nursing will benefit the most from this.

Another interesting twist will be that the people who were at the top will get a chance to do put all their great ideas for everyone else into real world practise. This would defiantly bring a much needed professionalism and intelligence to lower income jobs. Won't that be fun! The very people who are so smug and sure that the Union Mentality is destroying this country may well find themselves in a union or organizing one.

Thanks to the advertising and marketing [propaganda] folks. We have developed in this country a caste system similar to the one is India. Classism is a bigger problem than Racism it is just less obvious. The new economy is going to be the Big Equalizer which I think in the long run will be a huge benefit to everyone. We are going to be forced to realize we all Americans and are in this together. Any problems with race and class are going to be brought to a crisis point and will be resolved, perhaps not in the positive way we would all like to see. Bottom line is we are all going to have to get along.

The Rush Limbaugh conservatives have been throwing around the word Socialism like it was a witch's curse. What are they so afraid of? I think it has been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Dog Eat Dog capitalism is not working. Over the next few years the Federal and State governments are going to have to assume more control of peoples lives. This is going to be very interesting to see how much control and what the reaction will be. Who knows maybe the Government Will legalize drugs just to keep everyone stoned and not causing trouble or let Black Water security, the guys who had so much fun in Iraq take over our prison system. The variations are endless.

A very different America is just starting to emerge. it is going to be a exciting and wretched at the same time. I feel we will come out of this Depression as a country free from the propaganda of division and conflict and united in the belief that everyone of us has a place in America that we are not merely economic units but living breathing people who have more to contribute than just our economic value.

Oh by the way . It states in the stimulus bill [spending bill] all projects paid for with stimulus money have to use American steel and iron. President Obama is afraid this will send a protectionist message to our foreign trading partners. I got some news for Mr. Obama

China and Japan have done a tremendous amount of building over the past ten years. Does he believe they used one ounce of American steel or iron or anything else Made in America? What is wrong with rebuilding our American industries that the Capitalists sold off decades ago in the name of profit at any cost.

Billy Sunday and the church of stop shopping

Some leading economists are predicting that the American economy will be back on track by the end of 2010. I hope they are right.But do they mean that we will be buying $50,000.00 pick-up trucks and 1500.00 Louis Vuitton handbags. I think this is where the expression pipe dream comes from.

Let us look at Circuit City for a minute. These guys are a classic example of the whole mess. The Executive Compensation at Circuit City was pretty juicy, so juicy in fact they stopped paying their sales people commission and fired the best ones. This is basically what the big banks and the auto companies did, so why shouldn't we bailout Circuit City too. After all why give Best Buy a monopoly.

The bottom line is we are going into a whole new phase in America and it is the end of mega-shopping and mass merchandising. This bottom line gets even lower when you consider that no one has gotten a decent raise in at least 5 years so we are all to the point where we have just enough money coming in to keep it all going and with all the job cuts and lay-offs starting it is getting nasty. What Will be even nastier is just around the corner with the government printing money as fast as it can, by 2010 what is going to be off the tracks is inflation so that just enough we have will be worth even less. Hey how about a bail-out for the rest of America. Like gas 1.50 a gallon guaranteed by the same government that is guaranteeing billions to the Robber Barons of the new century.

The true shame of America is we were part of the greatest propaganda campaign in history. The advertisers, marketers and I am going to throw in all the Universities too. Convinced themselves and us that you could have something for nothing. You could turn lead into gold if you just wanted it enough and were willing to work hard enough and had a winning attitude. The only motivation that has been pounded into us through all the media and now the Internet is selfishness and greed. Excuse me, I am being boorish the term is Enlightened Self Interest. The American family and all its members have become an economic unit to market to and tax . Nothing more.

Remember always use Other Peoples Money this is a clever slogan that got people to borrow a lot of money it also has been taught and accepted as good business . The only problem with this Ponzi scheme is there are no other people, there never was there has always been just us and the reality that money is loaned to make a profit. Has anyone reading this ever made more on their savings account than they have paid in interest on a loan. We have been sold a version of the American dream , a dream no one wanted to pay for. An American dream of a free ride and an infinite adolance.

The Biggest multi-national corporations in this country and our own government have been running a giant Ponzi scheme since we went off the gold standered in 1972. think about the Social Security program using money from those paying in to pay-off those who are collecting. We have been told for years that Social Security should only be part of a persons retirement plan. Well after we have watched our pensions and 401ks being raped[ is that not the way it feels] What is left but Social Security.

The final outcome to all this is going to be going forward we Will all be living sampler lives with smaller dreams and reduced expectations. The way of life that was promised us will fade as we watch the whole culture evolve from propaganda to truth because it will be to expensive to market propaganda to people who have no money. We have had a consumer economy since world war II ,that has run its course. I do not know what will take its place but it will be interesting to watch the change that is coming.