Time Off

I will be taking time off from political commenting to spend more time with my family. After all, I do have a normal job to attend to, to pay the bills, and a family to support. Any posts I make from this point on will be intermitten.

Coast Guard Memo

Link.

Sociopath

Definition: Sociopath. One who says or does whatever it takes to get what they want regardless of the consequences to what happens to the other side. This includes lies, trickery, and outright deceit. Getting what they want includes political power, money from bribes, and money from unaudited budgets. They have no remorse for their actions.

Sounds a lot like our President, doesn't it? Hmmm. :)

Illegal Immigrants

I really see no problems with immigrants coming in United States, as long as they are not from countries with terrorist connections. I used to buy pizza from owners that were Middle Eastern, when I used to be on such a diet. I see no problem in that. They are friendly and nice people. I know of people who hire Latinos to help them with moving and housework. They are for the most part hard working, though they tend to steal when they get the chance. I personally like Chinese women, I think for the most part they are cute.

The only problem I see is of national security when people from countries of terrorist connections enter our country. Countries such as Iran, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates concern me. If you applied for Top Secret Clearance in the government (there are 6 levels), you are often denied clearance because of your background or people who know, even if you've done nothing wrong. This is standard government procedure for security purposes. The FBI does an extensive check on you talking to your friends, neighbors, relatives.

People are denied clearance or certain access because of their associations. This is standard government procedure. The question is, why is Bush bypassing normal security clearance procedures by granting the port deal to a country with associations with terrorist leaders such as Osama Bin Laden and 9/11?

If someone applied to be Police officer, they actually check where you live in and deny your application to be an officer if they find it it is an area of high crime. Similary according to standard procedures and practices, what should they do if they find a country with links to crime and terrorist activity do?

I don't like people who play the race card because it is dishonest. They are trying to hide the real underlying issues.

Ted Koppel reports on the Patriot Act

Link.

Oil

Interesting perspective from someone I respected since childhood.

Few caught in Bribe

CNN.

Few caught in Bribe, thousands more are not. Just look at the Bush administration. Their strategy: It is better to look stupid and incompetent than corrupt and bought.

Imports

Did you know that illegal Chinese immigrants have been caught coming through the Port of Los Angeles? Who do you think "leases" the Port of Los Angeles? Companies from China, Denmark, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan.

If Dubai Ports World "leases" the six major ports, which illegals do you think would be coming through those ports? Is it China, Iran, and/or United Arab Emirates nationals? Iran is a major trading partner to Dubai.

So knowing all this, why does the Bush administration continue to press for Dubai Ports World to have our ports? Money. Money. and Money. It's obvious the Bush adminstration has been paid off. DPW even hired Bob Dole, whom I once respected and voted for, to lobby Congress to get the deal passed. It's amazing how many politicians you can buy off with money.

Definition: Lobbying. Bribing, usually with money, politicians and other public officials to vote and publicly support a certain position. Here's an example to swing U.S. citizens disposition to DPW. Another example is here: The United Arab Emirates has long-standing ties to the Bush family. Records show the UAE and one of its sheikhs contributed at least $1 million before 1995 to the Bush Library Foundation, which established the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas.

By the way, that is how con-artists work, if anyone has ever met one in person. They generally lavish you with gifts, money, etc. to get you to do what they want. Anyone who has dealt with a con-artist knows you are left with the short end of the stick. They give you a little to get a lot in return. They depend on your gratitude and natural human reciprocation tendencies (see Robert Cialdini's research on this). It's like paying $25 to get something worth $5,000 to roll in their favor. It's obviously very beneficial for them.

Iran-Dubai Connection

World Net Daily.

Bin Laden and United Arab Emirates?

CNN.

Ports: Former Homeland Security Inspector General comments

NY Times.

CNN.

Ports

The United Arab Emirates state controlled company Dubai Ports World will be taking over six of our major ports if Bush has his way. Bush says there are safeguards in place to prevent terrorism from being imported into our country covertly. I assume it is the same safeguards the Bush admnistration has in place for auditing defense spending. *rolls eyes*

Personally, it is interesting how Bush can guarantee security on these ports when there are thousands of people from China being illegally imported on our ports today. While it is true that many of our ports are operated by foreign countries, we should check the background and connections of those countries before granting access to our ports. That's how large supplies of illegal drugs such as cocaine and "ice" are shipped into our country . As you can see from the prevalent availability of these drugs in U.S. society, current security measures are inadequate. Only a small percentage of these shipments are caught. If we can not stop drugs and illegal immigrants from entering the U.S. at the ports, why does Bush say it is safe from terrorists and nuclear weapons? He even goes so far as to say that it has been reviewed by him and his cabinet and passed. What is he really up to? Why would sheiks who are so wealthy from oil production care about our ports? What's in it for them?

"Lawmakers from both parties have noted that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers used the United Arab Emirates as an operational and financial base. In addition, critics contend the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist." -- NY Times

Bush wants another terrorist attack on U.S. Soil

Article 1.
Article 2.

It would make perfect sense that Bush would want a middle eastern company with a mixed record on terrorism to have total control of these ports. In that way, a dirty bomb or other terrorists and equipment can get into U.S. without going through the regular channels of security. You may wonder why Bush would want to do this? It is actually pretty simple. By letting another terrorist attack happen, he would put the fear into U.S. citizens and Congress to give him more power and more money to do what he needs to do. See by allowing a hole for terrorists to enter, he would be justified in the N.S.A. eavesdropping program. He would totally eliminate civil liberties and rights. Plus he would get more funding for the corrupt defense contractors who probably give financial kickbacks to him and Cheney. And then finally ... more wars ... because the world is not safe.

By "allowing" terrorists to slip into U.S. soil and create terror, Bush will get all the power he dreams of ... and more. Dreams really do come true for Bush. They've gotten away with everything so far. All they have to do is put up with a U.S. public that doesn't like them. Seems like a price Bush is willing to pay to get what he wants.

There is a whole bunch of Bush family members in politics. In fact, if he plays his cards right, his family (siblings) can continue to rule the United States for the next generation. He can even write his own law (much like the N.S.A. eavesdropping and torture laws) removing presidential term limits. Wow! This is a dream come true for Bush ... all at the expense of the United States of America and its citizens.

Bush wants us to believe that he doesn't have enough power. The problem is the Bush has too much power and using it incorrectlly. That's how we got into the Iraq war in the first place. That's how we lost our civil liberties. That's why there's no accountability for random torture of people. And now he wants to let terrorist have free reign over our country's doors. Bush's power should be limited and he should be removed from Office due to High Treason to the United States of America.

* High treason, broadly defined, is an action which is grossly disloyal to one's country or sovereign.

It's good to know that there are still patriots in Congress who are fighting the Bush port deal.

People who practice Magick

Have you ever noticed that the leaders who lead these groups are often obese? That is they are often 100+ lbs. overweight. In some cases, 200+ lbs. These people claim to be able to teach you magickal powers and the great mystical forces of the universe. Yet if you ever meet them in person, you would think how did they get so depressed to not take care of themselves physically. To get that fat, you'd have to stuff huge amounts of junk down your throat. These same people claim to teach you methods of spiritual power, motivation, and getting your life going yet they can't even stop themselves from molesting children. It's obvious that it's not working for them. They don't like themselves to do that kind of damage to their bodies and to hurt innocent children like that. It's obvious they also lack discipline. Discipline is the key ingredient in motivation. Yet these overly obese individuals claim to be able to teach it to you. It's like listening to the fat Buddha tell you about how to achieve discipline. ha ha. Or the Catholic priests tell you about being perfect and whole and doing work for God while they molest hundreds of little children. Do you know what the Catholic Church actually does when they find out about these things? ha ha They squash any news about it. ha ha In most cases, the Church actually moves the priest to another district to be a priest without telling any of the church goers about his history. Do you know what actually happens? The priest starts molesting children again. People actually believe that if they go to Church and believe in God, and pray, that their children will be protected. This is all so silly. These people claim to teach you about life, about what's right, and how God will protect you. Yet once you understand about self-respect, dignity, honor, integrity, love, and common sense, you know that these people don't have it. These organizations fill you with false ideologies and yet their teachers lack integrity and they especially lack honor. Obviously, it doesn't work for them. And obviously, that system doesn't work. They waste your time in thinking in fantasy trips that your mind has no time to deal with reality. In short, there is no time to develop common sense and intelligence when your mind is deluded with these fantasies.

If you really want to be a decent human being, think about doing what's best for the country, for the people, and for Life. And share your compassion and love with mankind. Live your life this way, and the answers in life you seek from God will come to you automatically.

A Kill

Kill one person, you are considered a murderer.
Kill a hundred, you are a serial killer.
Kill one hundred thousand, you are George Bush, President of the United States.*

Immune and above all laws.

Bush wants another war?

Article. Or is it going to be Iran? Plenty of more opportunities for corruption and money making at taxpayers expense and U.S. soldiers lives.

Money for Nothing - Billions of Taxpayer Dollars disappear in Iraq without accountability

Article. Massive Corruption from Cheney/Bush friends.

$1 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars disappear every week in Iraq without audit trails

"According to the GAO the amount of money being spent by the United States in Iraq is 15 times great than was spent in Bosnia, but only twice as many contracting and acquisition experts are overseeing Iraq contracts.

Far from being able to drill down into individual contracts to see whether they are being competently handled, Walker said the GAO has its hands full just trying to follow the big picture.

"We don't even know how they are spending $1 billion a week in Iraq, because their accounting records are abysmal," Walker said." -- Washington Times

Is this part of the Cheney and Friends Retirement Fund?

Arms Trade

The U.S. is the Biggest Arms Dealer in the World. That is, it sells arms (weapons) to other countries so that war can prosper and the U.S. government can cite additional reason for "protection services" (ie. increasing defense budget and lining their own deep pockets with unaccounted funds) and engaging in more wars. For movie version of this, see the movie "Lord of War". This is, of course, facilitated by the Presidency through the C.I.A.

In fact, the U.S. provided arms to Saddam Hussein and put him in power. Interesting, eh?

Defense Contractors Guilty of Treason

We are subsizing companies who are traitors to this country. Take a look. They take billions of dollars in military spending and pay small fines of $50 million for treason. That's like taking a dollar out of their pocket. These companies are still doing business with the government.

Source.

• 2000: Lockheed Martin was charged with 30 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The violations were regarding the transfer of space launch assistance technologies to China. Lockheed Martin paid a civil penalty of $13 million.
  
  
• 2000: Boeing was charged with 110 violations regarding the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The charges pertained to munitions and defense articles (i.e., technical data) exported to Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey, Spain, and Italy. Boeing paid a civil penalty of $4.2 million.
  
  
• 1998: IBM East Europe/Asia Ltd., a subsidiary of IBM, pled guilty to violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Administration Regulations relating to the unlawful export of computers to a Russian nuclear weapons laboratory. The company paid a $8.5 million criminal fine.
  
  
• 1998: Boeing was charged with 207 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Boeing allegedly unlawfully exported defense articles to Russia, Ukraine, and Norway. The company paid a $10 million civil penalty.
  
  
• 1995: Lockheed Martin pled guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for paying bribes to officials of the Egyptian Government. They paid a criminal fine of $24.8 million.

"Low prices" the government pays for the lowest bidder

This is why the space shuttle keeps falling apart. Because the government gives the contract to the lowest bidder. Just look at these ridiculously low prices *rolls eyes* and see for yourself.

• Bolt (machine) initial estimate $40; actual price paid $1,887;
• Hub (body) - initial estimate $35, actual price paid $14,529;
• Nut (self-locking) - initial estimate $2.69; actual price paid $2,185; and
• Radio (transformer) - initial estimate $683, actual price paid $11,701.
• Source
  

This is paid with our tax dollars. You'll understand now how when they order a large supply of this how it costs $200M.

$1 Trillion of taxpayer dollars simply went missing

San Francisco Chronicle.

Totally unaccounted for. Whose pockets did they secretly slip under this time? No wonder they have to increase the budget for military spending.

Disappearing Funds

"According to a US Senate hearing, $13 billion the Pentagon handed out to weapons contractors between 1985 and 1995 was simply "lost." Another $15 billion remains unaccounted for because of "financial management troubles." That's $2B billion-right off the top-that has simply disappeared..." -- Mark Zepezauer and Arthur Naiman

Whose pockets do these funds disappear into? Is this part of the presidential retirement fund?

The Department of Defense Routinely Waste Taxpayers' Money

Article 1.

In addition to wasteful spending, there is the issue of wasteful employees, many of whom do not carry their weight in the organization.

From my experience working for the Department of Defense (DoD), it takes 3-5 government employees to produce the same amount of work in the same amount of time as an employee in the private sector. The interesting thing is that what is produced is often of lower quality. And that my friend, is considered a "productive government team". If I go into groups that aren't productive, millions of dollars are wasted and nothing useful is produced. In fact, it's very tempting to be a DoD contractor because the rewards are high. Nevermind what they tell you about lowest bidder, lowest quality. They produce low quality because that's what they can produce. Over a decade ago, our team was contracted out between $127-$225/per person per hour. It was certainly one of the lower end contracts.

When you hear of the space shuttle using the cheapest parts and failing, it really has little to do with bidding at the lowest rate. In fact, the bidders are paid quite a bundle. It's just the DoD contracting firms are super cheap and want to make as much money as they can and rip off the government with cheesy parts and thus make even more money. It has to do with the lack of integrity of the company more than anything else. Did you know that these firms were making tons of money, as evidenced by what the upper management makes? Then when something goes wrong, the politdcal face saving excuse is "it's the low bidder low quality rule". Right! NOT!!

Here is an another example.

Why are taxpayers subsidizing welfare to corporations? If Bush wants to have spending cuts, this is the first place to start cutting. Otherwise he is just subsizing his friends on corporate welfare.

More news on defense spending.

"The US military budget was more than 30 times as large as the combined spending of the seven rogue states (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) who spent $13 billion."

"The seven potential enemies of the U.S. plus Russia and China together spent $134.2 billion, 34% of the U.S. military budget." Take a look at the graph.

Here's how some of our tax dollars are used: to train some of the worst human rights violators at the U.S. government's mercenary training school, the School of the Americas. Some of the worst dictators and human rights abusers have graduated from that school including Roberto D'Aubisson from El Salvador and Manuel Noriega of Panama.

Another take on military spending.

Daily Military Spending Corruption News

New York Times article.

This is just same-o same-o except they were caught.

How Christians are voluntarily sending money to commit murders of innocent civilians

Did you know that 42% of what you pay in taxes goes to funding wars? If you pay $12,000/yr. in taxes, you are in fact financing $5,040/yr. of your money to having innocent people killed. Let's look at the statistics where the government hides information on civilian casualties.

Lives Lost in Iraq
(as of Dec 2005)

• Over 2,180 U.S. troops killed
• Over 32,818 U.S. troops seriously injured
  
• Over 30,000 Iraqi troops killed
• Over 90,000 Iraqi troops seriously injured
• Over 177,784 Iraqi civilians killed
• Over 320,011 Iraqi civilians seriously injured

Hey it's only money, taxpayers have deep pockets and will pay for anything

New York Times.

While many people are struggling to make ends meet, working different jobs, working our butt off to earn a living and paying the bills, our taxes (28-40% of our paycheck) goes to funding politican's private companies (ie. Halliburton) so they can become rich.

Quite interesting.

Our Forefathers such as George Washington refused to pay taxes to a government where their money was not used to help their Land (America). This was the start of the American Revolution and we became a much better country. Where's our money going now? If we don't pay our taxes, there is a likelihood of going to jail. This is robbery by brute force! Our forefathers made a stand against such a thing and succeeded.

I propose we get rid of the electoral college and corrupt politicians and use a Popular Vote from now on. That is the American public votes on how it wants money spent instead of having to depend on corrupt politicians who have been bought to allegedly vote in our best interest (not!).

Did you know that the federal income tax was first started in 1913, due to the 16th amemdent the tax rate was only 1% if you made more than $3,000, and 6% surtax if you made more than $500,000? The United States existed fine before that without taxes. And now today, we are taxed (28%-40%). And even at a 1% tax rate, the country existed fine. Usually an income tax was only needed to fund wars.

Here's an interesing article on taxes. I find the language in the article distasteful but shows some important points to consider.

More tastefule articles follow. :)
What part of our taxes go where? If you live in Texas, it goes like this. Notice how little is spent on education and how much is spent on the military. Here's a explanatory breakdown. See what little is actually spent on buildings roads and education.

When the Bush administration say they are providing tax cuts, notice that the cuts are in programs that are needed while they continue to increase the military budget for unnecessary wars.

If we cut out these unnecessary wars, our tax rate can drop by 42%. If you get rid of the CIA, IRS, and downsize the size of the federal government, that's probably most of the 16%. So affecting these changes would save our taxes by 42%+14%(88% of 16%)=56%. That's 56% less taxes you'd have to pay. And if they were to economize the efficiency of the way the government works (that'd be a miracle), we could reduce the costs of running these programs by 50% (at least). Having done some work for the government before through the Department of Defense, I know. So that's 56% less taxes plus 50% of the remaining 44% (22%). To apply these changes, we could cut taxes by 78% (56%+22%) and still receive the same level of benefit to our country as we are receiving today. Pay only for what's needed in our country.

Let's get some numbers, let's say you pay $25,000 in taxes. Reduce that by 78% and you cut your taxes by $19,500! If you paid $9,000 in taxes, you would now only pay $1,980. Wow! And we still get everything we get today and possibly more if we economize the government by a few factors. That's a savings of over $7,000. Can you use an extra $7,000/yr. to help benefit yourself and your family? Would that provide for a better way of life for yourself and your loved ones?

Pay only for what's needed in our country.

Thoughts along the medicine path

New York Times.