It's been 2 years since I've posted here, but it's a good publicly accessible source to share info.

This has been one of the most critical days of this struggle, and yet we're hearing NOTHING in the media. I'm putting today's events together for you:

Confirmed:

• The doors of the capitol never opened at 8AM like it was promised yesterday.
• No one is being let into the capitol, this now includes legal observers, press, Fire Department....
• Representative Kelda Helen Roys was denied entry to the building because she refused to provide an ID. She tried entry 3 times. How she eventually got in is a little unclear some say she tailgated in after media other say media vouched for her.
• Many Firefighters were trying to gain access to the building and were denied. A few got in with the assistance of their representatives. But many more were left out in the cold. http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=32545
• After a new rule change, Senate Majority Leader has now cut off copy machine access to Dem Senators. This was confirmed by Sen. Lena Taylor on Ed Schultz this morning. She said that her staff could no longer copy OR fax and had to go down to the clerks office to do any of those activities.
• Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald also taking control of Dem. Senate staffer pay. HE will be signing any timesheets citing a need to "Verify staff members are not engaging in campaign or illegal activity with state resources.
• At least one lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the state Union Workers accusing the Governor of unfair labor practices. http:\\wisaflcio.typepad.com\WSEU-CBA-ULP.final.pdf
• #walkerville is being constructed outside of the capitol. At least 1 tent is up now.
• Peg Lautenschlager announced on the Ed Show that she's asked a judge for an injunction to allow the public to enter our own state house.

Conflicting information:

• There were initial reports of windows being welded shut, that has not been verified, HOWEVER there have definitely been bolts placed in the windows to prevent them from being opened. Someone likely saw sparks from an angle grinder cutting the top off the bolt and thought they were welding. There were pictures of these modifications posted online here is one:http://twitpic.com/44ssy1 There is now conflicting information from official sources: http://www.cityofmadison.com/news/view.cfm?news_id=2520 "In consultation with the Capitol Police, the Department has been advised that work on bathroom windows is being done to repair and/or replace pins that were previously in place on windows that are accessible to the public. No modifications are being made to windows in the office areas of Capitol staff"

Unconfirmed:

• Metal detectors have been put in place and dogs are searching people entering.
• Senators security key fobs have been disabled and new ones are being distributed to the republican senators.

Rumor:

• Chief Tubbs has been relieved of his responsibilities of security at the capitol and has been replaced with State Patrol Chief Fitzgerald. This is the piece that began the rumors: http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2011/2/28/defying_walker_wisconsin_protesters_refuse_to
• A lawsuit is in the works suing the state on behalf of the protestors for having their constitutional rights infringed upon when the doors of the capitol were locked and access denied.

We've only just begun.

He's not even president yet, and I'm already liking what I'm hearing from an Obama white house:

• Repealing the ban on stem cell research
  
• Removing rights for oil companies to do domestic drilling
• Shutting down Guantanamo Bay and giving ALL detainees fair trials in the USA
• A 5 day request for comment period before new (non-emergency) legislation is enacted. Allowing the American public to share their opinion and bring up points of concern.

The new website for the president-elect is amazing as well. You can apply for jobs in the new administration, send ideas and comments on what you think they should do, and learn about the upcoming administration's agenda. If you haven't been there yet visit it!

http:\\www.change.gov

Someone pinch me.

Oh, and if you need to get your blood pressure up a little. Give a look at how the pro-life folks are viewing the repeal of the ban on stem cell research:
http://www.lifenews.com/nat4559.html

A must listen explanation of the Subprime Mortgage debacle and how we got into this mess

Yes, I know yet another thing to listen to. Suck it up, it's for your own good. Besides, you might understand how the subprime mortgages got us into this mess.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2008/09/oil_up_stocks_down_plus_the_ro_1.html

You don't have to listen to the whole thing (although you should). The actual explanation starts at 8:35.

This is by far and away the best explanation of how this works and why we are where we are today.

This is an EPIC photo for EPIC times.

I HAVE to share this photo it wraps up so much of what it happening in our economy/government right now.



Yes, That's Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson in the foreground. If you don't know who those people are, read a frickin newspaper. :)

If you're having trouble understanding what's going on, I highly recommend listening to the following:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2008/09/law_prof_warns_of_power_shift.html

Please listen it's important.

We won't get fooled again.....or will we.

I'm shell shocked by the fact that it seems the public has successfully been snowed once again.

Recent polls show that McCain now is leading Barack Obama.

I shouldn't be surprised. It's the same playbook they've been using for over a decade now. It just took longer than usual for the Republicans to hit their stride.

The playbook? Run on ad hominem attacks, combined with the straw men of God Guns and Gays.

I was really happy with the American people so far this election cycle. We were keeping our focus on things that mattered. War, Military, Health Care, Education, and the Economy were the topics on the table and we were going to vote on those subjects.

I guess a combination of Palin and non-stop name calling proved just too enticing for the people. Palin isn't a better candidate. Heck I'm sure they realize she's a terrible candidate. But that's not why she was chosen. She was chosen because she embodies all of the topics we were going to have off of the table this time around. We were moving forward and weren't going to be mired in zero sum arguments like gay marriage and abortion this time around. That just wasn't meant to be.

Clearly the American public is letting the emotions of the 3G topics get them so wound up that they are forgetting everything that has happened in the last 8 years.

Are we as a country better off now than we were 8 years ago?

Mr. Military Man/Woman, are you going to vote for McCain? Will he really support you? Think about this, the man that was a POW and had his body broken has consistantly voted AGAINST helping you:

– Voted AGAINST an amendment providing $20 billion to the VA’s medical facilities. [5/4/06]

– Voted AGAINST providing $430 million to the VA for outpatient care “and treatment for veterans,” one of only 13 senators to do so. [4/26/06]

– Voted AGAINST increasing VA funding by $1.5 billion by closing corporate loopholes. [3/14/06]

– Voted AGAINST increasing VA funding by $1.8 billion by ending “abusive tax loopholes.” [3/10/04]

He's also against the new GI bill. You know, the bill that is the Number 1 recruiting tool for the US military? Remember this when you're getting deployed for your 3rd or 4th tour in Iraq:

"Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential
nominee, seemed to give a thumbs down to bipartisan legislation that
would greatly expand educational benefits for members of the military
returning from Iraq and Afghanistan under the GI Bill." http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=4652517


Mr. / Mrs. Pro-lifer, do you really think that if you vote for McCain/Palin that Roe V. Wade will be overturned? If that was the case, why wasn't it overturned when GW Bush was voted in and he had a majority in the House and Senate? Do you not realize you're being played? Why would they outlaw the one issue that has gotten so many of you to come to the polls and vote them into office time and time again? Why will it be any different this time?

We're less than 60 days from the election now. I guess we wont have to wait long to see if the people forget everything that has happened over 8 years, and why we're in the awful place we are now.

Palin's "Rev. Wright", will the media grill her?

Another day, another Palin story. I concluded my last entry "Story developing....", and boy is it ever.

On the Huffington Post today there was a story about Sarah Palin (AKA Caribou Barbie) and the church she and her family attended for many years. Some of the diatribes from the preacher at that church are just as , if not more offensive than the statements Rev. Jeremiah Wright made.

Lets take a listen to Ed Kalnins, the senior pastor of Wasilla Assembly of God:

"What you see in a terrorist -- that's called the invisible enemy. There has always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what's going on in this unseen world called the spirit world. ... We need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war, and we need to think like that. We need to develop that instinct. We need to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is contending for your faith. ... Jesus called us to die. You're worried about getting hurt? He's called us to die. Listen, you know we can't even follow him unless you are willing to give up your life. ... I believe that Jesus himself operated from that position of war mode. Everyone say "war mode." Now you say, wait a minute Ed, he's like the good shepherd, he's loving all the time and he's kind all the time. Oh yes he is -- but I also believe that he had a part of his thoughts that knew that he was in a war."

Jesus operated from a position of war mode? He called us to die?

I know I'm not a Christian in the traditional sense, but that flies in the face of everything I've ever been taught about Jesus.

The real question is, why aren't Christians up in arms about this? This is just one of the incredibly inflammatory things this preacher has said:

"Pastor Kalnins has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war 'contending for your faith;'"

Sarah Palin is following in the holy footsteps just like George Bush did in 2000; God is winning their elections for them:

As for his former congregant and current vice presidential candidate, Kalnins has asserted that Palin's election as governor was the result of a "prophetic call" by another pastor at the church who prayed for her victory. "[He made] a prophetic declaration and then unfolds the kingdom of God, you know."

Even Palin expressed surprise at that pastor's advocacy for her candidacy. "He was praying over me," she said in June. "He's praying, 'Lord make a way, Lord make a way...' And I'm thinking, this guy's really bold, he doesn't even know what I'm gonna do, he doesn't know what my plans are, and he's praying not, 'Oh Lord, if it be your will may she become governor,' or whatever. No, he just prayed for it. He said, 'Lord, make a way, and let her do this next step.' And that's exactly what happened. So, again, very very powerful coming from this church."

So there it is. People criticized Rev. Wright to no end for making political statements from the pulpit. Somehow I get the feeling that this is going to get far less attention.

All quoted sections are from the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/palins-church-may-have-sh_n_123205.html

I just tasted some bile

I haven't blogged on this whole Palin thing because the media has a great job of covering the farce that is the Republican VP pick.

However when I read the following article, I had to say something:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html

That article details how Sarah Palin isn't just some ditzy political hack. She's ruthless and clearly has an agenda to bring Christian religion into every facet of our government.

"Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor."

So not only is she trying to push a religious agenda, she's willing to fire people and cut down anyone to make it happen.

Story developing........

A cloud of Anthrax

I remember sitting in my apartment in the ghetto in 2001 thinking to myself, "If many of the terrorists involved in the attack on the WTC were college educated at universities here in the US, why can't they write a threating letter with decent grammar?"



These aren't dumb people, only ignorant Americans think that everyone from the middle east are idiots who know nothing but farming sheep and riding camels. That's why I never believed these the anthrax attacks were from someone in the middle east.

Turns out, not only were these attacks not from the middle east, but it looks like they were an inside job with the materials coming from our own US military.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/01/anthrax/

Tuesday night, the lead suspect in the investigation died of an appearant suicide. I know that there is work being done to frame him as a crackpot, and Occam's Razor would say that is the case since it's the simplest solution.

All the same, my tin foil hat is at full sail and I've even got an aluminum Spinnaker to catch these winds of conspiracy..............

How far of a stretch is it to think that this guy is simply a patsy? The real operation was that of an inside job orchestrated at the highest levels of government to stoke the flames of fear lit by the events of 9/11. Scared people are pliant and easy to convince. People in the shadow of fear might be more willing to go along with starting an unprovoked war for the first time in our country's history.

All the same, even if this was just some crackpot, the Bush administration leveraged this coincidence to their fullest advantage and used it to place a cloud of fear over the public. As is detailed in the linked article, the anthrax attacks were referenced time and time again as a reason we should attack Iraq.

I'm realizing now that I really don't have a point to all of this. I guess I'm still in disbelief that it took 7 years for us to track down someone who is intimately involved with the anthrax "scene" here in the US. And that it took us 7 years to recognize that the germ was our own brand of funk.