Eating Bad And Bad Journalism

In the Today section of MSNBC's site, there's an article that drew my attention, only because I'm not as young as I used to be, and like to pay at least a little lip service into watching what I eat now a days.

The article, entitled: "16 secrets the restaurant industry doesn't want you to know", and written by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, with additional research by Lauren Murrow, leads the reader to believe that something of major importance is about to be imparted, some pearls of wisdom that none of the rest of us are aware, that may someday save our lives.

Instead, what we are treated to is a hit list of restaurants that the writers obviously don't care much for, with almost no information on the actual food content, cleanliness factors, or any other truly health related information. Let's take apart their hit list piece by piece, and examine what's passing for journalism these days.

First though, this is the byline to the 'story' that draws you in and makes you think you're about to get the inside dirt: "Men's Health scrambled behind the counters, dug under the drive-thrus, and plunged into the deep fryers to find out what's really going into our meals "

The article itself gives absolutely no information as to why these restaurants are bad for our health, but lists sixteen restaurants that are not noted for their dedication to healthy eating in the first place. In this day and age of consumer awareness, it should be obvious to a second grader that Burger King, home of the Double Whopper with cheese, would not be considered a first pick for the vegetarian minded among us. They complain about Burger King's food without going into numbers that may have been, oh you know, maybe analyzed in a lab, with a report, or something of that nature.

They also don't like Outback Steak House, Applebee's, Red Robin, Hooter's, TGI Friday's, Maggiano's Little Italy, or any of the other chain restaurants. Hmmm, I personally think that TGI Friday's flank steak is awesome, and could care less that it's red meat, or that the company only has three dishes that are under 500 calories on it's menu. The same goes for all of the other restaurants. I eat steak, many millions of Americans eat steak, wings, Italian food by the truckload, and those deep fried onion things make my toes curl in ecstasy.

The funniest one on the hit list is IHOP. The article whines about the fact that IHOP's Omelette Feast has 1,335 calories and blah blah blah. Ok, Mommy and Daddy, listen up. If I wanted a veggie burger with some soy milk, I'm sure that I'm old enough to go find it in either a restaurant or my local grocery store. I go to IHOP or Denny's because I'm starving and WANT to eat a humongous breakfast, not caring about the fat content. I'll drink a V-8 later on today and all will balance out with the universe.

Also included in this hated food parade are favorites of many of us, such as Baskin Robbins, Papa John's, Fuddruckers, Dunkin Donuts, Arby's and a couple of restaurants that I've never visited, but will now just to show that I can. Are they serious? Is there any one of you who are reading this and actually saying to yourself that any of the just mentioned restaurants are health food joints? Or do you truly buy this new line that these establishments need to be regulated to the point that they have to TELL you before you eat there that their food is probably going to clog your arteries some day? We're talking about places whose main staples are ice cream, pizza, big fat hamburgers, feel good sandwiches, delicious donuts, and other nefarious fare.

This wasn't an article designed to inform us of anything that we didn't already know. Or, in the case of those still watching the Simpsons on a nightly basis, maybe you didn't know, but could care less any way. Can't these health food elitists leave the rest of us in peace, and just lament our eating habits over their chi tea and scones?

If we, as a nation are so concerned with these restaurants and the content of the food that they serve, don't you think we'd stop eating there? Most of us are more worried about an out of control President with his itchy finger on the Iranian nuclear trigger that what McDonald's is serving in it's Happy Meals. Maybe if the elitists would join the real world, and the rest of us down here in the trenches, using their talents to do some good, rather than whining about what the rest of us are eating, we could actually get someone in D.C. to realize just how unhappy the nation truly is.

Instead, they want to take our comfort foods away and really make us miserable. Thanks. This was a yellow hit piece if there ever was one, and just to spite them, I'm off to Runza's to get a double bacon cheeseburger, with a side of cooked in CORN oil fries, Biggie sized please, with a LARGE chocolate shake. And for desert, a nice, relaxing Camel Wide. So there..............Batmanchester

The Worst Charity In America

The appropriation of funds for those in need during the holiday season has become such a huge business for some of America's charitable organizations, that we talk in terms of billions of dollars donate by Americans every year to some organizations who most of us have heard of, but really know very little about. The sad fact is that there are some of these boiler room charities whose sole purpose is the raising of funds to feed their corporate appetite for raising more money. At some of these scandal plagued charities in name only, less than 10% of the money donated is actually put to the use that donors intend it for. And with little to no government oversight, combined with the refusal by some of these places to open up their books to the public, we can safely assume the have something to hide.

One of the best watchdog type of agencies that receive almost no publicity mainly due to the fact that they expose the corrupt charities, down to the dollar amounts received and the outflow of dollars going to what the charity's stated mission is, is an organization called the Charity Navigator. Being the research type, I run through their site on a regular basis, and was appalled at some of the outright fraud they know all about, but the general public is blissfully unaware of.

Let's have a peek at what's going on behind the scene at one of America's worst charities.

Starting with the American Red Cross, there is literally an entire section of the Charity Navigator's site devoted to this most corrupt and mismanaged so called charity, with an entire blog section that details so many instances of embezzlement that has gone unpunished and money that has been donated by good hearted Americans that can not be accounted for, that one must wonder exactly why this corporation exists in the first place.

Two of the largest scandals to rock this agency in recent memory have been the misuse and outright theft of funds given generously by the public to help the victims of the 9/11 attacks, and Hurricane Katrina.

According to aid workers, and directors of agencies set up in the aftermath of these incidents, money that was supposed to flow into the coffers of agencies to be distributed to the actual victims of these disasters has never been received, causing untold misery for those who have the most need. So what is going on at the Red Cross and why can't they keep a national chapter head for very long? And where are the billions of dollars in donations that were given to the charity in the aftermath of Katrina? One of the answers buried on page six should help to clarify things just a little.

First and foremost, and not known by most, is the fact that the Red Cross is now packed full of Bush appointees. The very same people who have taken the nation as a whole down the road to ruin, are also the people who sit on the ARC's Board of Directors, such as Michael Chertoff, and Condoleeza Rice, among others who also work in the Bush Administration.

The most recent head of the Red Cross was quietly fired, with almost no attention paid to the fact that the reason that he was released was due to his having an affair with the head of the South East Red Cross Chapter. Mark Everson, the Red Cross National Chapter appointee, and Paige Roberts, of the South East Chapter were both married, and Roberts is now pregnant with Everson's child. But even more important is the issue of monies that are alleged to have been used by both to carry on their affair, that came from the coffers of the Red Cross. In any other corporation, someone would be on their way to jail for this type of activity, but for some reason, the Red Cross seems to be moving swiftly to cover up the entire incident and sweep it all under their proverbial rug.

All mention of the scandal is disappearing from their individual chapter web sites faster than one can find the postings, and in fact, all references to the scandal are being pulled from even pages on AOL. Going further, the web site for the South East Chapter is gone entirely, and is currently 'under construction.'

Who would have that type of pull? Again, all we have to do is look at the Board of Directors. The secrecy and refusal to disclose information is so in step with the Bush White House policy, that it has now become almost impossible to differentiate between the administration and the charity. They have become essentially one and the same, which was never the intent of the founders of the Red Cross. Could this be just another chapter in the saga of this administration's middle finger to America's poor? Much in the vein of the appointments of unqualified people running FEMA, Everson's appointment to the Red Cross chair was suspect from the outset, as he had absolutely no experience whatsoever in running any charitable organization, coming, as he did, from being the former Commissioner of the IRS.

Public statements by the Red Cross about the misuse of funds by Everson and Roberts are vague and only say that the matter is being looked into. Privately, Red Cross and industry insiders talk of the fuming mad Board looking for any amount misspent by the pair and how they intend to make them pay any money used back.

All of this would be bad enough, but when one starts to delve just a little deeper into what happens to the money that is donated to the Red Cross, a pattern begins to emerge. Going into just the 25 million dollar donation by the country of Kuwait earmarked for the victims of Katrina, the pattern of misuse becomes clear. None of the 25 million dollars went to aid any victim. It was used instead, on 'administrative costs.'

Kirby Sommers, who heads Katrina Home Drive, has looked into where a lot of the theft has been happening, and has compiled a startling list of fraud, theft and abuse at the agency, none of it reported on or looked into by our 4th Estate.Among her findings are these little gems:

Eileen Therese Saxon of the Asheville, North Carolina Red Cross chapter charged with embezzling $165,000 – 9% of its $1.25 million dollar annual budget. (Source Ashville Citizen Times)

Karen Shuerger, former assistant director of accounting at the Orange County, California Chapter of the Red Cross has been sentenced to six months in Federal prison, ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $110,000 and when she is released, she will also serve 3 years of supervised release and six months of home detention. (Source: NY Times)

Red Cross Director Jonathon A. Jarrell of Virginia indicted on one count of embezzlement. Jarrell allegedly embezzled about $16,452 from the chapter between November 2004 and July 2006.

Joseph Lecowitch, CEO of the Hudson County Chapter in New Jersey, and his bookkeeper Catalina Escoto. Escoto gave herself $75,000 in bonuses. According to prosecutors, these two stole well over $1 million Red Cross donor dollars squandering it on gambling and each other. (Source: NY Times).

The list goes on and on, and includes reports by Red Cross volunteers of bags of money that simply disappeared, with no accounting of where the money went, or even of how much was stolen.

Every single charity watchdog group online has been calling for Congress to step in and clean up this mess by firing the entire Board of Directors, and imposing some sort of oversight on the agency, but to date, no one is willing to step forward and do anything about it.

With all of the cronyism, theft of donations, hirings of family members into positions that are essentially no show jobs, and the appointments of non experienced personnel, we can see once more just what this administration thinks about helping the poor, or victims of disasters. They have turned a once prestigious, caring organization, that could always be counted on to do good works, into their personal piggy banks, and the worst charity in America.

The Death Of Decency

Having survived two tours of duty in Iraq, and having been involved in some of the fiercest fire fights in Fallujah, the marine whom I met about three years ago in a bar in New Hampshire, returned home missing not just the lower portion of both of his legs, but according to everyone who knew him, he returned missing a piece of his soul.

I met this man quite by accident in a small bar in Dec. of 2004 because I happened to be in the same little hole in the wall as he just before he was going to be shipped overseas. He was smartly dressed in fatigues, neatly pressed, and had that military way of speaking when addressed, with the annoying habit of answering every question with "Yes Sir!"

Trying to decipher as to the reason why someone so young would want to run off to fight in what I felt even then was a false war, his reply was the usual standard one for those who have been indoctrinated into the faith. That it wasn't his place to question the legalities of a given conflict, it was only his job to go and protect America. I wrote a piece about our conversation back then, and how we promised to keep in touch, so I would know that he'd made it back alive.

Before he actually left, he actually took me to his mother's house, who promised to make sure that I knew of his home coming, so we would have the chance to meet up again. And meet up again we did.

When this honorable man got back from Iraq, he was missing a third of his left leg, and three quarters of his right. Not given much over to complaining, it was sad to see the eyes that had been so sure and so strong just the year before, now having that glazed over and hollow look of those who are haunted by visions of death and destruction often reveal.

Starting out in a wheelchair, he waited patiently for it to be his turn to be fitted for prosthetic devices, but as time wore on, and the waiting list for him to be flown to Walter Reed became longer, he sort of resigned himself to the fact that he'd be sitting in that chair for awhile, or using the crutches so generously offered by the VA in New Hampshire.

During the time that he waited, he lost the love of his life, which often happens in these types of situations, along with his ability to keep an apartment, and so he moved back in with his mother.

I still remember the last time that I saw him, because it was snowing and he wanted to go to the bar where we met, but it was snowing so hard that he couldn't push his wheelchair through he building drifts, and so, of course, I had to do the pushing. No easy task, we trudged ( or rather I trudged, he sat giggling at my feeble effort at heroics) until we made our way there, vowing to taxi it on the way back. As the night wore on, he became somewhat morose, most likely due to the copious and generous flowing of inebriates, but as his eyes became infused with that look of which I spoke, I asked him whether or not he would have done it all the same way were he to have the opportunity to simply walk away this time.

He told me that he would run as far and as fast to Canada or any other country he could, and would encourage everyone to do the same. That what he had seen and done he would not wish on anyone, and had it been for the protection of his country, then he would have felt differently. But he knew, as did many of his fellow soldiers, once they were over there, that the entire affair was a sham. That no one had any idea of what it was they were attempting to accomplish, and that the powers that be were more interested in guarding the oil fields than they were in trying to rebuild the infrastructure that the Bush Administration had so shockingly and awe inspiringly blown sky high. As the night became late, I wanted to take him back to his mother's house, but he insisted on staying, assuring me he'd hitch a ride with one of the good fellas from the neighborhood. I made sure that he had my email and my cell number so he could keep in touch, and we could get together again.

That was the last time that I ever saw him. Life being fluid, it was time for me to move on, and before I left Manchester, I tried to stop in and see him, but his mother didn't know his whereabouts, and so I left her my email once more, extracting the usual promises to keep in touch. She promised this to me, and before leaving, told me that my friend's situation was getting worse, as depression and suicidal ideation had set in, but not to worry, as he was getting medications for this new condition. But one can always tell when another is putting on the bravest of faces, when the reality of the situation has yet to sink fully in, and I left New Hampshire troubled that no one was paying any attention to this man's plight.

Friday past, I received the email that I knew would come eventually after months of speaking back and forth electronically with this woman. I never could get him to write to me, to him, life had become little more than a jumble of blurring pain, and the bottom of an empty glass. And so it came as no surprise to learn that he had finally decided to end it all, by overdosing on the very pills they had given him to ease his pain. He took all of them. Not by accident. You don't accidentally overdose on a newly filled prescription. They're going to bury him this week, but alas and to my chagrin, I can not be there.

What this saga has taught me is that there is no decency left in our nation. Oh sure, the veterans make the headlines every once in a while at times like the scandal at Walter Reed. But now that the defense contractor owned media has declared the corporate line of mission accomplished part two, you know, the surge worked after all, the plight of our men and women in harms way has dropped off of the radar like yesterdays old news. The talking heads who think to analyze for us the goings on of the world, but who are little more than paid shills that wouldn't know a wounded vet of this President's criminal war if they passed them on the street while they wore a sign saying "Homeless Iraq Vet, Please Help", should shut their mouths about what the people of our country are concerned about in the upcoming election.

Here's something they don't want you to know. Such as the fact that at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, a full 25 per cent of those returning from this horror show exhibit signs of mental illness. And less than one quarter of them are receiving any treatment due to long waiting lists.

Our veterans have become little more than propaganda pieces for our politicians, who trot them out for photo ops when ever a rally round the flag moment is deemed appropriate, but forgotten by them the minute the television cameras are off. The politicos and the news people go off to a hot cup of coffee and congratulate each other on a job well done, while the vets, many of them homeless, go back into the cold of the day, in a never ending search for their lost sanity.

It's time for everyone to keep these men and women in the spotlight during this election, and not allow talking heads to assure us that everything is all better now. If we allow the death of decency, the pushing aside of these people, then we are as lost as the pundits who don't have any clue of the reality of life on the streets.

Now is not the time to take the pressure off as a favor to this administration. It's time for the media to grow some you know what, and take this administration to task every day if need be, until they stop speaking platitudes about helping our injured vets, and do something to provide them with the care they so desperately need. The public can do this also by putting on the pressure with emails and phone calls to both the media and their politicians demanding action.

To the mother of my friend, forgive us all for not being there when your son, my friend, needed us the most. Batmanchester

The Clinton Political Crime Machine

With the primaries drawing ever closer and with so much at stake in this election that will determine whether the United States continues on it's present course towards the cliffs, or veers away to a brighter future, it's time to take a deeper look at the woman who has already been crowned Queen of America by the corporate controlled media.

After considerable research, one can only come to the conclusion that the Clinton political machine is every bit as formidable as the one put in place by former White House operative Karl Rove, and every bit as criminal. Let's see what they've been up to.

Ms. Clinton has out right refused to open up the records of her husband's Presidential library, and with good reason. The group known as Judicial Watch recently obtained photos from the library that show Hillary was less than truthful when she stated that she had no hand in nor had she met with any of the principles of the generous pardons handed out by then President Clinton at the end of his term. The case that I'm referring to would be the one wherein Mr. Clinton pardoned 4 Hasidic men convicted of stealing up to 30 million dollars in educational grant money. In return for the pardons, Grand Rabbi David Twersky agreed to deliver the Hasidic vote to Ms. Clinton during her upcoming Senatorial bid. Which is exactly what happened. Out of the almost 1,500 eligible voters under the good Rabbi's influence, more than 1,400 of them voted for Ms. Clinton.

Despite denials, the old saying of a picture being worth a thousand words holds true in this case, as the photo obtained by the Judicial Watch people clearly show a smiling Ms. Clinton posing for the cameras with her husband and Rabbi Twersky near the end of Mr. Clinton's term as President. Just a coincidence? Doubtful.

But let's take a look at some of the fund raising practices of the Clinton political machine.

A recent story in the Washington Post shows clear evidence of criminal conduct when it comes to raising the Hillary War Chest. It highlights some $400,000 in contributions from New York's Chinatown district alone that came from some very unlikely sources. Like dishwashers who toil for minimum wage writing checks to Clinton for upwards of $1,000. Likewise, the same is true of wait staff and others, who unemployed and living in tenements, somehow scraped together the maximum allowable donation amounts, and forwarded it to the Clinton campaign. Indeed, after an investigation, it was revealed by some of the 'donors', that they didn't even know who Clinton was, let alone donate money to her campaign. Furthermore, more than one third of the donors were not registered voters, and some were illegal aliens. Well, I imagine when one has a La Raza head as one of your campaign managers, illegal immigrant contributions are just as good as anyone else's.

If you think that a vote for Hillary would be a vote for freedom restoration in this country, think again. In 1998, then First Lady Clinton proposed that the internet needed 'Gatekeeping', and some sort of government control and oversight. For your own protection of course. Given Ms. Clinton's stances on the issues, somehow none of them jive with her '98 stance that the internet should be filtered for content that contains references to homosexuality, feminism, drug use, criminal activity, and best of all, "negative product reviews." Now that's net neutrality.

Think that Clinton would be for peace or for more war in the Middle East? Let's look at what she said in front of the United Nations. “We will support Israel’s efforts to send a message to Hamas, Hezbollah, to the Syrians, to the Iranians, to all who seek death and domination instead of life and freedom,”

This was during Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon. At the time of this little speech by Clinton, the Israelis had dropped leaflets ordering the civilians to evacuate their towns and villages, then proceeded to carpet bomb the same civilians on roads and bridges as they tried to flee. No outrage from Clinton there.

But let's look at Ms. Clinton's much cried about, failed 'Universal Health Initiative' that she wants another crack at. In 1994, Clinton's plan included fines of up to $50,000 for individuals who refused to sign up for her insurance company give away, $5,000 for failing to pay your premiums on time, $10,000 per day for faulty doctor paperwork, and $100,000 per day against drug companies who made mistakes. When told that this plan could and probably would bankrupt small businesses and homeowners, Clinton replied" "I can't be responsible for every under capitalized small business in America." Her plan also would have required people to carry national identification cards that embedded confidential patient information on computer chips.

But the best campaign contributions have come from such obvious criminal sources that the N.Y. Post ran this:"A purported pyramid-scheme operator who was run out of Arkansas when Bill Clinton was governor has reinvented himself as the head of an upstate group accused of being a “cult” - and his devotees have pumped thousands into Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential run. Executives and top associates of the Albany-based NXIVM group - along with their family members - donated $29,900 to Clinton’s presidential campaign, according to federal records. On March 14 and April 13, records show, more than a dozen contributions poured into Clinton’s coffers from NXIVM, an executive and group-awareness training organization led by Brooklyn-born Keith Raniere, 47. Most were from first-time political donors, each giving the $2,300 maximum…In his previous incarnation, the Svengali-like Raniere ran a $30 million multilevel marketing business that imploded after federal agencies and regulators in 23 states alleged it was an illegal pyramid scheme."

So much for caring about where your campaign donations come from.

Add all of this to other things that I wrote about in the piece entitled "The Crimes Of Hillary Clinton" and what we are starting to see here is another version of Whitewater type politics from the Clinton campaign, who are determined to keep this country on the Bush course despite all denials and platitudes to the contrary. A vote for Clinton is as good as a vote for George Bush, because as interchangeable as their families are, so are their politics, and their determination to push forward the agenda of the neo-cons. Batmanchester

An Open Letter To The Republican Party

On March 4th, 1861, the very first Republican President of the United States was sworn into office. Known as a great American, he is forever enshrined in our nation's capitol, the memorial to him visited by millions the world over every year. Abraham Lincoln is probably rolling over in his grave upon seeing what his party has become, and the greed, fear, and lies that now permeate the American landscape because of it.

Teddy Roosevelt was another Republican President who is widely considered to be a great man, and who was also, along with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, forever seared into the American psyche as true patriots. But that's where it ends.

You, the politicians who have inherited a party that was always before known as the party who could always be counted onto do the right thing when America needed you the most, are now widely perceived, not just here in America, but indeed, the world over, as the American political machine that is to be feared, that is corrupt, and that believes that somehow, America has an inherent right to own the world.

The world has seen the corruption that ran rampant during the administrations of Nixon, and Reagan, as well as the first President Bush. But nothing in the entire history of the Republican Party could have ever prepared the world for the outright evil that permeates the halls of Capitol Hill and the White House today. Not to say that the Democratic Party is not without their own skeletons in the closet, but that issue can wait for another day. This one can not.

There are those of you within the party who see the skirting of the laws of the land, but have chosen to remain silent or have voted along party lines to the detriment of the people you were elected to serve. You have backed this President and his Executive cronies, even as they have taken more power unto themselves than is allowed for in our Constitution. You have now seen that this President can not be trusted, has lied us into a war, manipulated our Intelligence Communities, favored his political hacks with positions of high power, even though they were not qualified for the jobs, and taken this country, our beloved America, down a path that will surely lead to ruin for all of us.

You can no longer delude yourselves about any of this, or truly believe in your hearts that this President, his Vice-President, or any one else working for this President has the interests of anyone but themselves and their corporate friends in mind as they make decisions that hurt our economy, get American citizens killed on a daily basis, gut our Constitution, and lead us into war on falsehoods.

In order to regain any credibility with the vast majority of the people of this country, several steps must be taken by the members of your party. First and foremost, you must disavow yourselves of this President, this Vice-President, and indeed, with the entire current Executive Branch. Your continued fealty to them no longer seems like loyalty, but a reckless disregard for the truth. Support the impeachment proceedings, and help to remove these dangerous criminals from office. Anything less is complicity in their ongoing crimes against the American people.

Second. You must stop pandering to the extreme right wing fanatics who are trying to reshape the United States into a fascist entity. This country is beginning to look more like the Nazi Germany of the late 1930's than the America of the modern day.

Third. You can not possibly believe that you are the religious party of our nation. If you truly believe this, then you are lost already, and nothing can be done for you. Your party holds no monopoly on the path to God, for there is something called freedom of religion, as well as freedom FROM religion in this country. Your insistent kneeling before the altar of the religious fanatics, who see themselves as the harbingers of the Hand of Doom, only serves to drive away those of us who might have considered a candidate from your party.

You can no longer block investigations into malfeasance by the White House, the Dept. of Justice, current or former White House officials, or agencies that were created to serve the people, but have been turned into corporate piggy banks. If you are, as you say, a party of truth, then you will see the writing on the wall, and switch course accordingly.

The Republican party needs to go back to their roots. The roots of decency, of the rights of all Americans, of balanced budgets, and of going to war only when there were no other options. Ignoring all of the above can only lead to the continued erosion of your party, as Americans grow weary of your attempts to defraud us, the continued unwavering support of a mad man in the White House, and the open pandering to certain segments of our society to the detriment of the rest. Go back and start over. Those true Republicans among you must kick out those others in your midst who have hijacked the party to further agendas or to rob the United States of it's treasure. There are countless dead Americans who have fought in wars for freedom who demand it. And there are countless Americans alive today who will no longer tolerate the status quo. Batmanchester

The Iranian Obsession

The world has been spared from the horrors of a third world war this week, not because of a sudden change of heart by the draconian chicken hawks that squat in our Executive Branch, but by our Intelligence Community, who were not going to be the scapegoats of an administration run amok again.

This Iranian war obsession by the Bush administration can be traced back to the invasion of Afghanistan, where it was actually the Iranians themselves who pointed out to the then U.S. Representative to the Bonn Conference, James Dobbins, that the original version of the Bonn Agreement, (the plan for Afghanistan after the U.S. and it's NATO allies invaded), contained no mention whatsoever about the little things, such as freedom, democracy, or fighting terrorism. It was only due to the "professionalism of the Iranian diplomats", that these goals were set in place in the Bonn Agreement according to Dobbins' own words.

It was after this Conference that the Iranians tried to set up a rapport with the U.S., giving Dobbins a letter to bring back to the United States, which he did. He gave it to then Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, who rejected it out of hand, saying the Iranians were nuts. Yeah, that's professional.

Even after the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, the Iranians made a second attempt at overture to the United States through the Swiss Ambassador. They offered up a broad range of negotiations, including the recognition of Israel, dropping their support for the radical Palestinians, and putting their nuclear programs on the table. The offer was swiftly belittled by Bush's White House, who actually berated the Swiss Ambassador for bringing the offer to them.

Why wasn't the public made aware of any of this? Well, because that wouldn't serve the interests of the defense contractors who own the media, now would it?

So, even after we get the admission from the Intelligence Community on matters that many of us knew all along were baloney, this President still insists that Iran is a danger to the world, but specifically to the United States. Why in the world would he continue along this phony line of reasoning? It couldn't be because the Israelis are fuming mad about the release of this information, as now they'll have to figure out a way to attack Iran by themselves now would it? Even today, in the N.Y. Times, Israeli Defence Minister Barak said this: “But we cannot allow ourselves to rest just because of an intelligence report from the other side of the Earth, even if it is from our greatest friend.” And with the Israeli lobby in Washington pressuring us from all sides, it's no wonder Bush didn't know what to do, and so chose the easiest way out, which was to plan a bombing run on Iran.

The ramifications of such an attack would have been swift and horrible. Iran, unlike Iraq, hadn't been subjected to the partitioning of their country into no fly zones, or a decade long bombing campaign every time they got out of line. Their Qods force is quite formidable, and their alliances with radical groups that lie under cover within Iraq are extensive. Had an attack occurred the retaliation would have been swift and severe. Our men and women in Iraq would have suffered the brunt of it, and any gains made in Iraq would have been utterly wiped away. Although, even those gains are suspect, as bombs continue to kill Iraqi civilians by the day. But since it's only Americans who aren't getting killed as swiftly, it must count as gains, since in the minds of many, the Iraqi people getting killed don't count. Maybe that was the plan all along. The 100 year war, remember?

This government is not intended to be the personal Big Brother to the state of Israel. Just because the Israelis feel threatened by a stronger Iranian presence in the Middle East, doesn't mean they should have such influence in our government that we would allow our government officials, from the President on down, to lie us into another war, one that could have had the potential of setting the entire world on fire, just to make the Israelis feel better.

It is time for us to sit down at the table with the Iranians. Despite public appearances, we've done it through back channels before when it suited our purposes. Now, with this latest sham foisted on us by an administration that has absolutely no credibility left, it's time to do so openly and publicly. And it's high time that this Congress tie this President's hands. It's time for this Congress to impeach this President for lying once more to the American people about a grave subject that had and still has the potential to get a lot of Americans killed. We can no longer afford to shrug off the feeble attempts at explanation by a mad man or his insane neo-con cronies, who want nothing less than to drag the entire world into a never ending war in order to feed the military/industrial complex. What's next? Will another threat emerge suddenly now? Say like, Syria? The war obsession must stop, and we must demand it, or we are all complicit in the consequences. Batmanchester

North American Union Truth Is In The Details

Lately there seems to be a major push by certain right wing elements within the media to try to pooh pooh the very notion that there is a secret agenda quietly moving the United States, Mexico, and Canada towards a North American Union, thereby wiping out the borders of the U.S. altogether. The push to make you believe that this is all just another 'crazy' conspiracy theory is akin to the old saying wherein the devil's greatest trick was to make you believe he didn't exist.

In case no one has been reading the articles that have been appearing with more frequency, the writers of these propaganda pieces basically eschew the government line, explaining away seeming glaring discrepancies in the official version with oh so simple reasoning.

First, because a great many people are starting to notice that, hey, there is a Texas Superhighway being built, the pundits and talking heads feed us the line that these are projects that were in the works for a long time, and have nothing to do with any North American Union.

But let's take a look at what's really going on.

First, in Texas, they ARE building the Texas Superhighway system, and as anyone that lives on or near the border already knows, they have even set aside special lanes, called SENTRI lanes, that opened in December, 2005. These lanes, designed to speed cross border travel for frequent travelers, were hailed by Mexico's government for allowing for the quick and speedy movement of goods and people across the border. One may purchase a SENTRI pass, undergo a swift background and vehicle inspection, receive a border pass, and travel back and forth pretty much unimpeded already. Now, somehow that doesn't have the feel of securing the borders to it. What's to stop a terrorist from obtaining a pass, then secreting his buddies across into the U.S.? Answer: Nothing.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, the TTC or Trans Texas Corridor is being built not only in Texas, but parts of Tennessee, and Mississippi already have sections constructed in their states. The corridors are planned to include 6 lanes for automobiles, 4 truck lanes, 6 rail lanes, as well as power lines and water ways. And although being paid for with your tax dollars, the NAFTA Superhighway will be mostly privately owned by foreign corporations and governments, the two largest beneficiaries being the governments of Spain and Great Britain. And yes, they're going to be TOLL ROADS, with the proceeds and profits going not to the U.S. Treasury, but to foreign entities.

In Canada, in a July 30th, 2007 press release, the Canadian equivalent of our Transportation Department called Transport Canada , announced final agreement on their own plans to build The Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor that would connect to the American/Mexican road and railways already being built.

Third on the list would be the little known fact that not only is one of the heads of La Raza, the racist organization intent on the ouster of Americans from all of the southwestern United States one of Hillary Clinton's campaign managers but they are also being funded by the U.S. government to the tune of over 10 million dollars per year, with a bill introduced earlier this year by U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, to increase La Raza's funding by 5 million dollars per year. Here's a sample of La Raza's own reading material: "Our devil has pale skin and blue eyes," and, "We're a new Mestizo nation." These words were spoken by Jose Angel Gutierrez, one of La Raza's founders and a strong proponent of something called Atzlan which would be accomplished by separating much or all of half a dozen southwestern states from the United States. Why in the word would the U.S. government be funding this group? It is clearly unethical for lobbying groups to be involved in any sort of political discourse, but yet, according to ALIPAC spokesman William Gheen, the way the funding setup has been done, La Raza stands to rake in not just the 10 or so million a year from taxpayers, but because of the way the bill was written, it's an open ended commitment, that could conceivably allow for hundreds of millions to be given to La Raza or any of it's offshoots. Let the KKK or the Black Panther Party apply for that money and see what happens.

How did all of this start you might be wondering? Why, all we have to do is look back a decade and a half to the Presidency of Daddy Bush, who, on April 30th, 1992, signed Executive Order No. 12803 on infrastructure privatization, which created PPPs by clearing federal barriers for cities and states to lease public works infrastructure to private investors.

Furthering this agenda was none other than President Bill Clinton, who actually was the President who signed the first NAFTA agreements, with the goal of opening up our markets to foreign competition. And now the media wants you to put the Clintons back in the White House.

The N.A.U. is a reality. The only way to stop it is to vote for a candidate who will pull us out of the NAFTA agreements, stop the NAFTA Superhighway, and restore fair trade balance and secure the borders of the United States. Don't be suckered by the media pundits who tell you that all of this is a myth. The people of Texas, who stand in front of the Governors mansion and protest know the truth, and so should you by now. There are a lot of other points to make in proving the reality of the coming North American Union, but this should be enough to get you started on the right path. Batmanchester