Both

"Nations have recently been led to borrow billions for war; no nation has ever borrowed largely for education... no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both."
--Abraham Flexner

Inevitability II

"When we talk of tomorrow, the gods laugh."
--Chinese Proverb

Lipstick On Grand Larceny

My email to Mike Thompson, Fräulein Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, and Barack Obama sent this morning:

You can barrels of lipstick on Dick Cheney and the Wall Street Bandits Handout Bill all you want, but it's still grand larceny. It is still like giving the keys to the vault to an unrepentant Al Capone. It is time to come out STRONGLY against this massive ripoff. The alternative is to join the gang of thieves, the same people that trashed this economy with the racist genocidal War For Oil And Empire, who trashed the Constitution with the "Patriot Act", who under the guise of "deregulation" opened the floodgates to mass looting and who, with this long track record of thievery and pathological lying, want another $700 billion - $1.5 billion.

If you want to save the economy: (1) Impeach Dick Cheney and George Bush TODAY; (2) Stop the wars that are bleeding this country dry NOW; (3) Make Al Gore Interim President, and require the November elections be conducted with hand-counted paper ballots so that we can, once again, have free and fair elections.

TLC

Complexes

"A lot of the advertisement is done by saying: first of all, have a complex about who you are." --Isabella Rossellini (1952~) Italian Actor, Model

Freedom II

The Massive Handout: Give CONgress A Piece Of Your Mind

My email to Mike Thompson, Fräulein Feinstein, and Barbara Boxer:

I wish to go on record as opposing, in the strongest possible terms, the massive thievery that the Congress will be voting on under the guise of a "bailout". It is a handout of our country's future, a curse upon future generations. Not only is it grand larceny on an unprecedented scale, it rewards the Bu$h Regime for its aiding and abetting the huge fraud that has already been committed upon the American people, and covers the self-serving assess of a CONgress that has mortgaged this country's future, perhaps irreparably, with its refusal to Impeach and remove from power the Fourth Reich that has done more to destroy this country than even Adolph Hitler would have. A CONgress that, through its ongoing subservience to Bu$hCo, has repeatedly and overwhelmingly voted to continue to bankroll the War For Control Of Oil And Empire, this war without end upon brown-skinned people, a war of genocide committed with chemical warfare, a war that trashes all notions of decency and international law.

The "Crisis" is not in the financial markets, but rather that we have a government that no longer represents or serves the people of the United States Of America.

TLC

Still

"Kenyan witch hunter blessed Palin. It didn't work, he's still a witch hunter and she's still a witch."

Investigative Reporter Wayne Madsen, September 27, 2008

Veeps

"The man who kills the animals today is the man who kills the people who get in his way tomorrow."
--Dr. Dian Fossey

Dian Fossey was murdered by an unknown attacker in her cabin at the Karisoke Research Center in the Virunga Mountains in 1985. The attacker hacked her to death by what investigators believe to be a machete. They entered through a hole in the wall prior to the attack. No arrests have ever been made, but local authorities believe it to be poachers who were at odds with Dian and her anti-poaching brigade of but a few soldiers.
http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/dianfossey.html#death

Barney Turns-The-Economy-Into-Rubble Frank

Barney Frank and the DemocRATs seem eager to get the trillion dollar plus handout on its way to further reward the crooks that have looted the economy:


Democrats said they were confident legislation would ultimately be completed.

"We're going to get this done, and stay in session as long as it takes to get it done," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the majority leader.

Earlier, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank declared that an agreement depended on House Republicans "dropping this revolt" against the Bush-requested plan.

Source: SF Chronicle, September 26, 2008


Where was Chairman Frank for all these years while rampant unprecedented grand larceny went on unhindered by government laws or regulations? Thievery enabled by Phil Graham and Bill Clinton back in 1999 with Frank and most of the rest of the DemocRATS doing nothing, not sounding alarms, not holding Hearings, do-nothings that sold this country down the toilet.

Chairman Frank should resign in disgrace due to his incredible incompetence, not be allowed to bankroll his worthlessness.

TLC

Freedom II

"The enemies of freedom do not argue;
they shout and they shoot."
--William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) English author, Anglican prelate
Source: The End of an Age

Sarah Impalin' Saves The Country

NEW YORK, N.Y. – John McCain's campaign has floated the possibility that Sarah Palin may also suspend her campaign, matching McCain’s announcement that he would cease campaigning for president to return to Washington to try to hammer out a fix for the nation’s financial meltdown.

Source: Politico, September 25, 2008

___________________________

Thanks to Lori of Citizens For Legitimate Government for the tip.


Impalin' going to go out and shoot caribou, moose, deer, elk, and anything else that moves, until she gets enough pelts and dead animal flesh to sell to China so that she can pay for the bailout at no cost to the taxpayers!

TLC

Denver/St. Paul

"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear."
--Harry S Truman, August 8, 1950

Hopele$$ In$ecurity

How many billions of dollars have been spent by the Federal Government under the pretext of Fatherland Security, er, "Homeland Security"?

Given that for the past seven years every phone call you've made, every email you've sent or read, has ended up in the databases of numerous tentacles of the Federal Government--why was "Homeland Security" completely asleep at the wheel when it came to the current "crisis in the financial markets"?

Didn't "Homeland Security" bug the phone of even one knowledgeable accountant in the finance industry?

Pitbull Palin says that things are so serious that Americans face another Great Depression.

Three trillion dollars plus on a bogus War OF Terror...and yet until last week the Federal Government was completely unaware that we were heading toward a "crisis"? Completely incapable of doing anything to change the course of events?

This may be a "Defining Moment" for Barack Obama: Will Obama state the obvious, that the Bu$h Regime is once again lying through its pathological teeth?

Thus far, Obama seems to be accepting the premise that there is a "crisis" at all.

Let's take a look at how the corporate press is handling this:


McCain seeks to delay debate
Candidate plans to return to Washington Thursday to deal with credit crisis
Wed., Sept. 24, 2008

NEW YORK - Republican John McCain said Wednesday he is directing his staff to work with Democrat Barack Obama's campaign and the presidential debate commission to delay Friday's debate because of the economic crisis.

UNTIL, OH, SAY, NOVEMBER 5TH??? 2525, IF MAN IS STILL ALIVE?


In a statement, McCain said he will stop campaigning after addressing former President Clinton's Global Initiative session on Thursday and return to Washington to focus on the nation's financial problems.

THIS FROM SOMEONE WHO LONG AGO CONCEDED HE HAS A VERY LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF ECONOMIC ISSUES??? EXACTLY WHAT IS HIS PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT GOING TO ADD WHEN HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION??? THAT'S WHY PRESIDENTS HAVE *ADVISORS*.


The Republican presidential hopeful called Obama before he made the statement and told him he was going to suspend his campaign, according to a McCain senior adviser.

JUST LIKE HE/BU$HCO PLAN TO SUSPEND THE (FIXED) ELECTIONS???


According to the source, McCain wants to create a "political free zone" until a deal is reached on legislation for a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry.

EVEN THOUGH SUCH A DEAL WOULD NOT BE IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE???


McCain said he wants President Bush to convene a leadership meeting in Washington that would include him and Obama.

YEAH, A MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENT THAT CONTROLLED THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT SINCE JANUARY 2001? WHO CONTROLLED THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, APPOINTED U.S. ATTORNEYS, THE FBI DIRECTOR, CREATED HOPELESS INSECURITY THAT DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO PROTECT US FROM A GENUINE THREAT TO THE REPUBLIC THAT HAS BEEN OBVIOUS FOR YEARS, WHO HAD A DO-NOTHING SUBSERVIENT CONGRESS THE WHOLE TIME?


"It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration's proposal," McCain said. "I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time."

RUNNING OUT OF TIME...AS IN, IF WE DON'T DO THE BAILOUT NOW AND SOMEHOW OBAMA GETS ELECTED, THERE WON'T BE A $700 BILLION - $1.5 TRILLION GIVEAWAY TO OUR FRIENDS THAT HAVE COMMITTED LARCENY ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE???


McCain said if Congress does not pass legislation to address the crisis, credit will dry up, people will no longer be able to buy homes, life savings will be at stake and businesses will not have enough money

OR WE COULD JUST DECLARE VICTORY IN IRAQ/PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN AND BRING THE TROOPS HOME, QUIT BORROWING HUGE AMOUNTS FROM CHINA AND OTHER COUNTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS, AND THEN THERE WOULD BE FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR LENDING???


"If we do not act, every corner of our country will be impacted," McCain said. "We cannot allow this to happen."

AND IF WE *DO* ACT, IT WILL BE CURTAINS FOR WHAT'S LEFT OF THE ECONOMY FOR MOST PEOPLE.


McCain said he has spoken to Obama about his plans and asked the Democratic presidential nominee to join him.

"JOIN ME IN SELLING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE COMPLETELY DOWN THE TOILET".


The Obama campaign said Obama had called McCain around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to propose that they issue a joint statement in support of a package to help fix the economy as soon as possible. McCain called back six hours later and agreed to the idea of the statement, the Obama campaign said. McCain's statement about postponing his campaign was issued to the media a few minutes later.

REAL SIMPLE: "(1) THE U.S. GOALS IN IRAQ/PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED, WE ARE CEASING IMMEDIATELY ALL ACTIVE MILITARY ACTIVITIES THERE AND ARE BRINGING THE TROOPS HOME. (2) EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2009, NO PASSENGER VEHICLE MAY BE SOLD IN AMERICA THAT GETS LESS THAN 30 MILES PER GALLON. (3) WE ARE INTRODUCING LEGISLATION TODAY TO SPEND $1 BILLION ON ALTERNATIVE ENERGY RESEARCH FOR WIND/SOLAR/HYDROGEN FROM WATER. THAT, BY THE WAY, WOULD LEAVE $699 BILLION LEFT OVER FOR OTHER THINGS LIKE HEALTHCARE FOR EVERYONE, DOUBLING THE EDUCATION BUDGET, HOUSING THE HOMELESS...ON AND ON...



"We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved," McCain said. "I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so."

HOW TO STABILIZE THE MARKETS: "EFFECTIVE TODAY, DICK CHENEY AND I ARE RESIGNING. AL GORE, WHO WE STOLE THE PRESIDENCY FROM IN 2000, WILL SERVE AS INTERIM PRESIDENT UNTIL VOTING INTEGRITY CAN BE RESTORED, I.E. ELIMINATION OF HACKABLE VOTING MACHINES AND PROSECUTION OF ALL WHO ENGAGE IN VOTER CAGING AND OTHER VOTER SUPPRESSION ACTIVITIES.


McCain advisers said they are also reaching out to the Obama campaign to discuss pulling political television advertisements.


LET'S JUST SUSPEND ALL ELECTIONS UNTIL THE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS AND THEIR GREAT GREAT GRANDCHILDREN ARE COMPLETELY BLED TO DEATH.


Advisers also say that McCain still wants to participate in all three presidential debates, but that the schedule is up in the air.

MAYBE WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER. IMPALIN'S TOUGHER TO COACH THAN WE THOUGHT.


The schedule for the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate was agreed upon on November 19, 2007.

BUT THAT WAS BEFORE THE REPUGS NOMINATED PITBULL BARBIE.


Source of original pseudo-news article: MSNBC


TLC

Happiness III

"Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad."
--Norm Papernick

History III

"Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe."
--H. G. Wells

Run

"You can neither win nor lose if you don't run the race."
--David Bowie

Paradise II

"It is a curious thing that every creed promises a paradise which will be absolutely uninhabitable for anyone of civilised taste."
--Evelyn Waugh

Duty IV

I was summoned for jury duty some years ago, and during voir dire, the attorney asked me whether I could obey the judge's instructions. I answered, "It all depends upon what those instructions are." Irritatingly, the judge asked me to explain myself. I explained that if I were on a jury back in the 1850s, and a person was on trial for violating the Fugitive Slave Act by assisting a runaway slave, I would vote for acquittal regardless of the judge's instructions. The reason is that slavery is unjust and any law supporting it is unjust. Needless to say, I was dismissed from jury duty.
--Walter Williams, July 11, 2007

Learning II

"Belief gets in the way of learning."
--Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American Science Fiction Writer

Obama v. McInsane/Impalin'

Let's see if I have this straight ...

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic, different.'

* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with fewer than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.

* If your husband is nicknamed 'First Dude', with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

--Author Unknown

Else

"Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else." --Tom Peters

Tireless

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."
--Samuel Adams

Patterning

"Patterning your life around other's opinions is nothing more than slavery."
--Lawana Blackwell, The Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark, 1999

Safe II

"To play it safe is not to play."
--Robert Altman

Scale 1.5

"I have spent all my life under a Communist regime, and I will tell you that a society without any objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale but the legal one is not quite worthy of man either."
--Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (1918- 2008), Russian Writer

Birds II

"We think caged birds sing, when indeed they cry."
--John Webster (1580-1632) English writer

Flag

"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people."
--U.S. historian Howard Zinn, 1993

Deeds II

"I am sure God will pardon a man who will use his reason and cannot believe, rather than a man who believes blindly instead of using the faculties He has given him......WE MUST REASON; and when reason proves to us the truth of these prophets and great man about whom the ancient books speak in every country, we shall believe in them. We shall believe in them when we see such prophets among ourselves. We shall then find that they were not peculiar men, but only illustrations of certain principles." --Vivekanda

Hunches

"A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something."
-- Frank Capra

Purpose II

"To have striven, to have made an effort, to have been true to certain ideals -- this alone is worth the struggle. We are here to add what we can to, not to get what we can from, life."
--William Osler

How II

"How Could You?"

When I was a puppy, I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend. Whenever I was "bad," you'd shake your finger at me and ask "How could you?" - but then you'd relent, and roll me over for a bellyrub.

My housebreaking took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed and listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because "ice cream is bad for dogs," you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your homecomings, and when you fell in love.

She, now your wife, is not a "dog person" - still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a "prisoner of love."

As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch - because your touch was now so infrequent - and I would have defended them with my life if need be.

I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway. There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered "yes" and changed the subject. I had gone from being "your dog" to "just a dog," and you resented every expenditure on my behalf.

Now, you have a new career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your "family," but there was a time when I was your only family.

I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said "I know you will find a good home for her." They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog, even one with "papers." You had to pry your son's fingers loose from my collar as he screamed "No, Daddy! Please don't let them take my dog!" And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life. You gave me a goodbye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too.

After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked "How could you?"

They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you - that you had changed your mind - that this was all a bad dream...or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me. When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited.

I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room. A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table and rubbed my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days. As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her, and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood.

She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago. She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured "How could you?"

Perhaps because she understood my dogspeak, she said "I'm so sorry." She hugged me, and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn't be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself - a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place. And with my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my "How could you?" was not directed at her. It was you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of. I will think of you and wait for you forever.

May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.

Copyright Jim Willis 2001

Educational

"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."
--Groucho Marx

Patience II

"Do not be desirous of having things done quickly. Do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished."
--Confucius

"Sport"

"The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of a gun."
--P.G. Wodehouse

Owes

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living;
the world owes you nothing; it was here first."
--Mark Twain [Samuel Langhornne Clemens] (1835-1910)

Job

"Our job this day is to become part of the answer to the world's immense and protracted suffering rather than continuing our ancient task of being part of the difficulty."
--Hugh Prather, Author, minister

Labor

"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."
--Abraham Lincoln


"What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures, to make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful, and childhood more happy and bright."
--Samuel Gompers