Tuesday, May 16, 2006

1984

Here is an excellent expose on how our government has total control over all communications. They can read the news before the editors of the papers ever even receive the wires. It's complete, it's total, it's amazing, it's true.


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Monday, May 15, 2006

Foray's into Freeperville: How YOU can aid the mentally ill.

Here's the deal:  there are a lot of people who are mentally ill out there and can't get professional treatment.  They're delusional, live in a fantasy world and actively strive to prevent treatment for their condition.  What's worse, it is slightly contagious and probably passed down to younger generations.


So we need to step up to the plate and go to bat for these people.  They need our help.  Even if you're an amatuer or just a volunteer, there's a simple way for you to be off assistance.  Believe me, it's worth it for these poor victims of mental illness and it's worth it for our society as a whole.


All you gotta do is head on over to  Freeperville.   I'll be your guide.


First off, you need to remember you're there to HELP these poor, sick people.  No matter how repugnant or obnoxious they seem to you, remind yourself, it's just a symptom of their illness.  You may not be a mental health professional, but you're the one who's THERE, NOW.  And they need you desperately.


Let me use my own experiences as an example to guide you on what to do and what NOT to do when you make your forays into Freeperville to aid the mentally ill:


One of the first discussion groups I ran into was a group of people suffering from the recurring delusion that Saddam possessed WMD's.  This fantasy was being indulged by several members who believed that a new document, being translated by one of their members, showed that Saddam had a plan to produce mobile laboratories.  


Notice the co-dependency behavior.  Each of them seeks to reaffirm their own illness by gathering with others who share the same delusional mindset.  Keep this in mind throughout your foray into Freeperville.  As one patient plaintively asserts:

I cannot think of what kind of mobile lab would need that kind of equipment.


- "Measurement device for the speed of vibration"


- "Measurement device for the speed of rotation"


- almost sound like mobile enriching lab but I'm sure that is not really possible or efficient enough.


- "Ultrasonic wave test device"


- "Different pressure measurement devices"


- "Mobile testing device for metals"


- "X-Ray testing device"


- Sounds more like a mobile bio- or chem-weapons lab given that pressure vessels are key to production and you don't want any leaks or weakened materials.


Certainly doesn't sound like a mobile hydrogen production lab for weather ballons (like the Iraqi Survey Group said.)


This poor patient "cannot imagine what kind of mobile lab would need that kind of equipment...then he goes right ahead and imagines it.  Well, the idea here is to point out the difference between the reality of a mobile biolab and the patients own fevered imaginings.  Once they've come face to face with the difference between reality and fantasy, they can begin to come to grips with their own paranoid delusions.  So I simply pointed out the obvious, which, while I'd like to quote directly, has been deleted by the moderators.  (remember what I said about co-dependency), but it goes something like this:


There was no mention whatsoever in that document of there being present any of the necessary components for a mobile bioweapons lab:  No incubator, autoclave, etc.  It was a bit too early to start jumping at conclusions about what this lab was for.


Also, in that same place I found a man who suffered from severe memory block.  It seems he can't remember anything about what Bush said in regards to Saddam having WMD's in the run up to the invasion.  He swore that:


I honestly do not remember Bush telling the American people that Saddam has WMD ... We did not go to Iraq because we thought he had WMD. If Bush had said that, I would have hesitated to support him sending in ground troops. The WMD issue was only a factor in the decision that we should go SOONER rather than wait until he already had them.

Now that we got the dems quotes out there...it's time we start searching for these pre-war Bush quotes.


All he can seem to remember are the Dems saying that Saddam had WMD's, but he has a mental block that keeps him from remembering what REALLY happened in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq.  Now, as a kind and helpful person, interested in aiding this poor person to overcome his handicap, I realized that here was a subconcious cry for help.  When he said, "it's time we start searching for these pre-war Bush quotes" I realized it was my duty to supply them.  So I did.  But of course, the moderators, being just as mentally ill, reacted like any codependent would and immediately sought to help reinforce their friends delusion the only way they knew how:  They deleted my response in an attempt to keep themselves in denial.  But here's what I did, hopefully the patient had time to read it before his "friend" stepped in and deleted the comment:


  WHEN (2002) WHERE WHAT

1   OCT 14 Michigan September the 11th changed the equation, changed our thinking. It also changed our thinking when we began to realize that one of the most dangerous things that can happen in the modern era is for a deceiving dictator who has gassed his own people, who has weapons of mass destruction to team up with an organization like al Qaeda.

2   OCT 28 Colorado [Saddam is] a person who claims he has no weapons of mass destruction, in order to escape the dictums of the U.N. Security Council and the United Nations -- but he's got them

3   OCT 28 New Mexico He's got weapons of mass destruction.

4   OCT 31 South Dakota There is a threat in Iraq. And the threat exists because a leader there not only has denied and deceived the world about whether or not he's got weapons of mass destruction, but this is a guy who's used weapons of mass destruction. He not only has them, he's used them.

5   NOV 01 New Hampshire We know he's got chemical weapons, probably has biological weapons.

6   NOV 02 Tennessee We know that this is a man who has chemical weapons, and we know he's used them.

7   NOV 02 Atlanta, Georgia He's a man who has said he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, but he's got them.

8   NOV 02 Florida He's a man who has said he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, but he's got them. ... You know, not only does he have weapons of mass destruction, but, incredibly enough, he has used weapons of mass destruction.

9   NOV 03 Minnesota This is a man who not only has got chemical weapons, I want you to remind your friends and neighbors, that he has used chemical weapons.

10   NOV 03 Illinois I see the world the way it is. Saddam Hussein is a threat to America. He's a threat to our friends. He's a man who said he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, yet he has them.

11   NOV 03 South Dakota Saddam Hussein is a man who told the world he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, but he's got them.

12   NOV 04 Texas He said he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction -- he has weapons of mass destruction. ... Not only has he got chemical weapons, but I want you to remember, he's used chemical weapons.

13   NOV 04 Arkansas This is a man who told the world he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, promised he wouldn't have them. He's got them. ... He said he wouldn't have chemical weapons, he's got them.

14   NOV 04 Missouri He said he wouldn't have chemical weapons; he's got them.


I hope that is what you were looking for.  :)



I figure the smile would go a long ways towards building trust.  Sufferers of such deep-seated paranoid delusions have trouble trusting others.  It is important for you to establish trust with them as much as possible.  Always try to be friendly and helpful.  If they need anything, like this person did, do your best to get it to them as quickly as possible and remember:  Be Friendly!  Because that is what we are - the only REAL friends they have, though they don't realize it yet.


Now here is a perfect example of what NOT to do when you try to go into Freeperville and assist the mentally ill:  This discussion group was focused on homelessness.  One person may have been an aide worker there to help, as I was, or he may have been a recovering patient himself, I don't know, but he brought the underlying issue to light:


What the heck is wrong with more funding? What homelessness does not exist? What does the bible say about sheltering the poor? Oh thats, rights, the bible only speaks about sins none of us on this board commit like homosexuality, not the failure to give charity.


Now, this brought up the recurring delusion that our government is somehow supposed to stay out of the business of helping its people.  This is a very deep-seated neurosis that if left unchecked can bring immense suffering to millions of people worldwide, including the patient himself.  So it was with no surprise whatsoever that I found a patient responding with the following comment:


It's not charity if it's a government program.


Here we see the most common symptom to these mentally deranged people.  Government cannot be charitable in their worldview.  Government has no role in society in making our world better for its citizens.  Only citizens are allowed to be charitable to one another.  Their panaoid distrust of government won't allow for a beneficent, helpful government.  Therefore they fervently refute the idea as being outside the jurisdiction of our government.  They need a healthy dose of We The People.  Unfortunately, by this time I made the cardinal mistake.  I had stuck around too long and let their selfish behavior get the better of me.  My bedside manner lapsed when I responded:


Whenever someone complains about our government doing charity, I always tell them "Give unto Caesar, what is Caesars, and give unto God what is Gods, then STFU."


Well, obviously THAT wasn't going to earn their trust.  What I SHOULD have said was "Remember when you feel the Government should not be in the business of giving public money to the poor the wisdom of Jesus "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's and give unto God what is Gods" then rejoice that Caesar sees the wisdom of God also and gives to charities and the poor.  Afterall, that's what God asks YOU to do isn't it?  Why should you begrudge Caesar for doing the same?  Rejoice and praise God that our government shares in his divine wisdom.  They could be spending the money to launch a war of aggression against our neighbors instead.  Which would God prefer?


Unfortunately, my moment of weakness was costly as this last attempt to give aid and solace to those poor mentally ill patients caused their moderators to ban me.


Which is why we need YOU dear reader, to step up and give of yourselves to aid these poor delusional bastards, er, patients in their time of need.  Without your help, they may wander the world, spreading their disease to innocent others.  So please, take a few minutes out of your day, show some compassion, go to Freeperville and help them to heal.  Be kind, be respectful, have patience.  Remember, they are Americans and they need YOUR HELP.


And for those who give of themselves, even for a day, (which is likely all the time you'll last over there before they ban you), I have this neat gift just for you:  (no I WON'T send you a free shirt, but feel free to take the words and print them out on a shirt of your own.  Just remember, use a local business, not some franchise that is owned by some remote corporation that is in turn owned by some multinational making shirts in Chinese sweatshops...buy American)



On the back of mine it reads:



But of course you can use this alternate backside if you wish:


Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us


Or feel free to make up one of your own.  


Wear the shirt proudly.  Be one of the few caring individuals who stepped forward to help and were BANNED from Freeperville!


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Friday, May 05, 2006

The Civil War Never Ended Pt. II: The reality of Trickle Down Economics

The Holy Grail of the right wing is the assertion that supply side economics (trickle down economics) works best for the economy while liberal, demand side economics is a failure.


As we all know, trickle down economics is a crock of shit, a myth created by cheap labor conservatives to keep the poor (read blacks and minorities) in poverty and allow the rich to "conserve" their wealth and hold on the reins of power.  Trickle down economics is the credo of Corporate Feudalism.


And now we have the data to prove it.



As the center for American Progress reports, economic mobility in America is worse than any high-income nation besides England.  In other words, we are trending back towards the strict English class structure of the aristocracy that our forefathers rebelled against 230 years ago.


The key findings relating to intergenerational mobility include the following:


Children from low-income families have only a 1 percent chance of reaching the top 5 percent of the income distribution, versus children of the rich who have about a 22 percent chance.

Children born to the middle quintile of parental family income ($42,000 to $54,300) had about the same chance of ending up in a lower quintile than their parents (39.5 percent) as they did of moving to a higher quintile (36.5 percent). Their chances of attaining the top five percentiles of the income distribution were just 1.8 percent.

Education, race, health and state of residence are four key channels by which economic status is transmitted from parent to child.

African American children who are born in the bottom quartile are nearly twice as likely to remain there as adults than are white children whose parents had identical incomes, and are four times less likely to attain the top quartile.

The difference in mobility for blacks and whites persists even after controlling for a host of parental background factors, children's education and health, as well as whether the household was female-headed or receiving public assistance.

After controlling for a host of parental background variables, upward mobility varied by region of origin, and is highest (in percentage terms) for those who grew up in the South Atlantic and East South Central regions, and lowest for those raised in the West South Central and Mountain regions.

By international standards, the United States has an unusually low level of intergenerational mobility: our parents' income is highly predictive of our incomes as adults. Intergenerational mobility in the United States is lower than in France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Among high-income countries for which comparable estimates are available, only the United Kingdom had a lower rate of mobility than the United States.



It's easy to see two things from this study so far, Corporate America is very feudalistic, with the rich retaining all the wealth and power and the rest of us not moving on to be more successful than our parents.


In fact, most of us are finding things are worse:


Key findings relating to short-run, year-to-year income movements include the following:


The overall volatility of household income increased significantly between 1990-91 and 1997-98 and again in 2003-04.

Since 1990-91, there has been an increase in the share of households who experienced significant downward short-term mobility. The share that saw their incomes decline by $20,000 or more (in real terms) rose from 13.0 percent in 1990-91 to 14.8 percent in 1997-98 to 16.6 percent in 2003-04.

The middle class is experiencing more insecurity of income, while the top decile is experiencing less. From 1997-98 to 2003-04, the increase in downward short-term mobility was driven by the experiences of middle-class households (those earning between $34,510 and $89,300 in 2004 dollars). Households in the top quintile saw no increase in downward short-term mobility, and households in the top decile ($122,880 and up) saw a reduction in the frequency of large negative income shocks.


Emphasis mine.


So who does trickle down economics benefit?  Only the richest and most powerful Americans.  It actually hurts the huge majority of Americans.  The Rags to Riches dream is just that, a dream.  We now live in a feudal society where wealth and power are inherited, just like the old kings and queens of yore, and the rest of us are merely peons.  Slaves to the cheap labor conservatives.


Households whose adult members all worked more than 40 hours per week for two years in a row were more upwardly mobile in 1990-91 and 1997-98 than households who worked fewer hours. Yet this was not true in 2003-04, suggesting that people who work long hours on a consistent basis no longer appear to be able to generate much upward mobility for their families.


THAT'S what trickle down economics has gotten us.

The Slavery of a permanent peasant class ruled by The Aristocracy of Wealth.  Blacks stuck in their place at the bottom of the economic heap.  The rich firmly entrenched.  Just like the southern slave holders once envisioned.


The Civil War Never Ended.


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Monday, May 01, 2006

John McCain: The ends justifies the means

So what's new? A Republican who doesn't believe in the Constitutional Right to Free Speech? Dime a dozen you say? But this is John McCain the Republican darling and Heir To The Throne. The former Vietnam POW and gosh-darned real life HERO, who has sworn every six years to "protect and defend the Constitution." Apparently HE doesn't even believe in the 1st Amendment. As he said to a caller on Imus:

"I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean government."


Note that shortly after that statement he says that
I'd campaign with Rick Santorum too.
Yeah. That's encouraging. Who does John McCain think he's kidding?

Hmmm, so his 'ideal' of 'clean government' overrides his commitment to uphold the Constitution? McCain talks a good talk about reform, but the problem is he's willing to trade fundamental rights to change our nation into his idealistic image of what he calls a "clean government". This guy's a zealot and an idealist who not only has no grasp of the Conservative Culture of Corruption but he also has no appreciation for what makes this country great. Toss out the 1st Amendment? Sure, the ends justifies the means. Or else he's a phoney, corrupt politician himself.

Oh yeah, I guess either way that DOES make him just like every other Republican.


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