America Sees God As A Terrorist

It would be hilarious on it's face were the fact that the Douglas County, Nebraska District Court was set to hold a hearing on the case today. Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers is suing God in what he calls an attempt to show how frivolous lawsuits wind up clogging the court's calenders. It would have been funny almost a year ago when Chambers first filed his lawsuit, but then an Omaha court decided that the lawsuit had to go forward.

The hearing today actually is to either dismiss the suit for lack of serving the defendant with notice, or to allow the case to proceed to trial, because as Chambers claims, God is omnipresent, and should therefore have knowledge of the suit. Bolstering his argument even more is the mysterious appearance three days after the suit was filed of a response to the lawsuit found lying on the desk of the clerk of the court. Titled 'Special Appearance', the document states that since Chambers had not filed paperwork with Him, that God contends the lawsuit to be invalid and requests a summary judgement, with 'appropriate punishment to be meted out to Chambers at a later date.

Unswayed by the appearance of the 'Appearance' paper, Chambers has pressed his case against God for terroristic activities. Claiming that God is responsible for untold death, destruction, and suffering around the world, (Why didn't he sue Bush instead?), he wishes the court to set an injunction against God to cease and desist all activities that he may manifest in the form of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, extreme thunderstorms, murders, car crashes, wars, etc. In other words, everything that goes wrong in the world.

In trying to have the suit dismissed due to lack of service, opponents have pointed out the lack of verifiable service of notice upon God, but as Senator Chambers points out, he's tried to contact God several times to effectuate service, alas to no avail. "Come out, come out, wherever you are" Chambers tested God, but the silence he says, has been deafening. Could it be that God has something to hide? Is this a tactic admission of guilt to the charges of terrorism? And if found guilty, where will God be imprisoned, and for how long? What monetary penalties should be charged for the murders of untold billions throughout history?

But as ludicrous as the proposition of suing God might seem to be, it may not be without precedent. A Romanian prisoner named M.Pavel, serving a 20 year sentence for murder sued God for not protecting him from the influences of the devil. He claims that God has broken His contract with Pavel, due to Pavel's baptism as a child supposed to guarantee a life free from the agents of evil. Since Pavel's life turned into a drunken, broken mess that ended in a murder, he feels that God should have to give him his money back, as it were, as well as punitive damages.

In Knoxville, Tennessee, a man worshiping God at the Lakewind Church is suing for $2.5 million dollars for pain and suffering, loss of income, and medical bills. While dancing up on the church stage like he usually does when possessed by the Spirit, he fell and landed on the floor. Having asked God to 'give him an experience', he got what he requested when God planted him on his derriere amidst a laughing out of control congregation, who found his pain and suffering very funny indeed. "How's that for an experience, thou good and faithful servant?!"

A Michigan man is suing God over two passages in the Bible that depict gays as sinners and says they will burn in the fiery pit. His suit contends that because of those passages, supposedly handed down by God, that he and other homosexuals the world over have suffered humiliation, beatings, murders, rapes, verbal abuse. Sounds like terroristic activity. Chertoff is NEVER around when the real deal is coming down.

In the aftermath of the Utah mine collapse that killed six miners while the entire country prayed for their safe return to their families, a Eugene, Oregon group called The Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide is pressing a lawsuit in federal court against the Creator for gross negligence in allowing the collapse to happen in the first place. The suit seeks $500 million dollars in order to release the Almighty from past misdeeds and negligent activities. In the suit itself alleging negligence, the group claims that the epoxy that God used to hold the earth together does not meet federally mandated guidelines, and therefore, God Himself is responsible for the mine collapse. God, once again, has ducked the suit, the notices to appear, and all attempts to contact Him.

And finally, a case in the U.K. that has somehow escaped the attention of our ever diligent fourth estate should expose the hoax being perpetrated in all it's glory. The Wachowski brothers of the film 'The Matrix' fame have sued God for copyright infringement by pointing out that parts of the Book of Revelations was stolen directly from the film. Declaring it unfair that the Almighty be able to zip back and forth through time and space, they also claim that's where he came up with the idea for the Bible verses. By watching 'The Matrix', then going back and telling John what to write. Not only that they contend, but God has used this dirty trick to run back and forth throughout history and revise the Good Book according to the standards of the day. When they approached Church officials for comment, the priests all ran away. What are they trying to hide?

So, on face value, it would seem that Senator Chambers is wasting the time of the courts. not so, if one takes in all of the other cases that have been filed against God, the accusations, the claims by his very churches around the globe that God is responsible for mankind's calamities. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell claimed that the 9/11 tragedy was the result of God's wrath, and that makes God a terrorist according to Homeland Security. As a taxpayer, I want to know what our government is doing to stop this madness before God decides to end the lawsuits with a meteor strike that wipes us all out. Demand that Congress enact legislation, (when they get back from yet another month long vacation), to make it a crime for God to kill people anywhere in America, and force the U.N. to place economic sanctions if these activities continue............You may now call me all the names you wish...........................

A Real X Files Case Still Unresolved

Born in Glascow, Scotland, Gary McKinnon has been declared by the United States Government to be the most prolific, most dangerous hacker of all time. The U.S. wants McKinnon here in the States to face a possible life sentence and $1.75 million dollar fine for what they say was a massive attack on the military's computer systems between 2001 and 2002. But when one looks at all of the evidence of what actually occurred, a conclusion could also be reached that it's Mr. McKinnon who should be charging the U.S. government for exposing glaring and major security holes in a flawed data storing system.

From his small apartment on the outskirts of London, on Hillfield Avenue in an area called Crouch End, McKinnon used his home PC and a dial up connection and started poking around various U.S. Government web sites seeking information about aliens and whether or not the U.S. was concealing evidence of contact or technology gleaned from any such encounters.

What he found he claims were testimonials by senior government officials of technology being used by the U.S. government and in particular, the military, that was gained in encounters with extra terrestrial life. Believing he had hit the mother lode, McKinnon says that he found so many glaring security holes in the military's computer apparatus that he went down to the local computer shop and purchased software that would allow him to scan more quickly through the various data bases. Searching for the Holy Grail as it were of all UFO believers, McKinnon, from his home remember, on a regular PC, with a DIAL UP CONNECTION, and a piece of readily available software, hacked 97 computers out of the 73,000 that he scanned. 97 U.S. military computers!

Perusing through all of these top secret documents, McKinnon could not believe that it was so easy to hack the Pentagon that he began to leave desktop notes on the computers he did access to warn of the glaring security holes. That was his biggest mistake and one that has cost him six years of worry that he was going to Gitmo, because the U.S. did not quite enjoy being embarrassed in public like that, and demanded that McKinnon be extradited to face charges of illegally accessing computer systems. Told by U.S. prosecutors to come quietly and he'd receive leniency, as in 20 to life leniency, McKinnon chose instead to fight the extradition in U.K. courts.

So the U.S. prosecutors turned up the heat by telling McKinnon they were going to make sure he became the boyfriend of some good old boy from the backwoods of West Virginia. Not really wishing to acquiesce to years of homosexual rape, McKinnon took his case all the way to Britain's highest court, The House Of Lords. And just lost. The only chance he has left to avoid being Bubba's girlfriend is an appeal to the European Court On Human Rights, who would have to agree that McKinnon was not a terrorist, and that the threats of rape by U.S. prosecutors amounted to a threat of bodily harm if extradited. It should also be noted that many U.K. citizens are angry at the extradition ruling by the High Court due to England's law which says that U.K. citizens can not be extradited due to political reasons, and that is clearly the case here.

But during this entire affair, of which almost no one here in America was aware of, the glaring questions that have not been asked would seem to a reasonable person to far overshadow the piddly little hacking complaint against McKinnon. Is the U.S. government, in particular NASA, the Pentagon, all of the military branches, and the NSA, CIA, and FBI going to sit there and tell us that a man who went to Highgate Wood School, and had no real knowledge of computer networks other than what he taught himself, hacked into the most secure defense related military computer systems in the entire world? That the safeguards that should have been in place weren't? And if that's the case, why are they trying to prosecute this man who showed them where the security flaws were, when they should have quietly let the story die and thanked the poor sap for helping fix things? It couldn't be because this run amok government likes to 'fry' people could it? That's what prosecutors told McKinnon. He was going to fry.

Now hold on one damned minute. If this little nobody, who was playing around and accidentally discovered these glaring security flaws could do it with a home PC and a dial up connection, does that not beg the question of who else has been wandering around our defense system computers, like oh, maybe the Chinese, the Russians, the Canadians, the government of Belarus, the Jamaicans, and anyone else with the mind to do so? Who has been fired over this, and which military personnel have been demoted or thrown in the brig for this egregious lapse? Oh. No one. Not a single person. But they want to throw the book at some poor sucker who wasn't out to do any harm, who has been declared by the U.S. to be 'the world's most dangerous hacker', and who just wishes that the alien life he was looking for would come and rescue his dumb ass before the Americans turn him into a victim of lifelong rape.

Does the U.S. government not have enough real terror suspects to track down and prosecute? Isn't there supposed to be some guy in a cave with a dialysis machine who needs killing? And aren't there hackers with much more sophisticated talents and machinery than Gary McKinnon? This is starting to look like a real life X Files case, straight out of Mulder and Scully land. Some little guy snoops around and finds something he's not supposed to, and the government sends out the Men In Black to get him and lock him away where he can't tell anyone what he found. Millions of taxpayer dollars wasted on both sides of the Atlantic to catch a mouse, a scapegoat for the miltary's shortcomings, while the killer lions roam free to wreak havoc at will, both in real time and in cyber space.

A Liberal's View On Chuck Hagel For Obama's Vice President

I know. The sky is falling, the rains are pouring down, and lightning will strike me dead. Yet, I still have this feeling that Senator Obama could take a huge step forward by choosing Senator Chuck Hagel as his running mate. A step forward to unity in this country by having a representative of both major political parties included on the ticket for the White House.

It would also go a very long way to shutting down the Republican Party extremists who are gearing up for an August lie fest in attacking Obama. Politico reports that Republicans Lamar Alexander and Adam Putnam intend to kick off the festivities with the completely asinine notion that it is Obama, in cahoots with Reid and Pelosi, that are holding up the offshore drilling in America, thereby causing the rise in oil prices. Uh huh. It's not like the Republicans didn't allow for the deregulation of EVERYTHING, and that caused the 'Enron' types to have a field day pushing prices through the roof. And it wouldn't have anything to do with all those friends and relatives of Republicans current and past that work in the oil industry or as their paid lobbyists either right?

Back to the issue at hand. The reason's Obama should take a very serious look at Chuck Hagel are many, not the least of which is Hagel's integrity. It is very hard to look across to the right side of the divide in America and find any politician that has any honor, and even though Hagel has voted along Party lines in most instances, there are times when he has gone against his own Party to vote on what he felt was right. He was also the only Republican to say the word impeachment when speaking about the Iraq war and the whack job in the Oval Office.

His recent trip to Iraq and Afghanistan with Obama shows that he isn't afraid to walk side by side with fellow Americans against the wishes of his Party, because he sees people in this country as just that. Americans first, Party extremists be damned. The entire Mid-West's fondness and respect for Hagel would also be a major boost to Obama's chances, in fact, it could actually guarantee a victory come November. The states of Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana would almost certainly fall into Obama's lap with a Hagel pick.

The effective neutering of John McCain's candidacy would be assured with an Obama/Hagel ticket, as Hagel's voting record shows he upholds the ideals of many conservatives in this country. Anathema to me personally, being a hard core liberal, Hagel however embodies the ideals of truth, which would be a refreshing change from the usual right wing spin machine.

There are times when conservatives have a valid point on issues, and during those times, it is incumbent that liberals not take the low road of locking them out of the decision making process. The arguments that tit for tat is the name of the game due to what the extremists that hijacked the Republican Party did to Democrats since the 1990's are wrong, and will only lead to more of the status quo. And it's exactly that status quo we are all trying to get rid of. It has caused deep ideological differences across the country, with no end to the dirty politicking, lying, outright falsehoods, and hands at each others' throats.

The country would be served well by a Unity ticket. Until such time that the Congress can be reshaped enough to do their Constitutional duty, an Obama/Hagel Presidency/Vice-Presidency could be the check and balance, with each side having a voice, only this time, it would be voices of truth. Make no mistake. I am personally disappointed with Hagel's voting record. But if it can be Hagel that is reaching out and admitting where the right went wrong, maybe it's time for the Democrats to put aside their anger and seek what's best for everyone. As much as I hated the idea of a completely right wing government, I also dread the thought of a completely Democratic controlled government. There must be a balance, a dissenting voice that's in a position to be heard, and Chuck Hagel as Vice-President would be that voice.

All of us on the left are giddy at the prospect that the White House, the House and the Senate will probably end up predominantly Democratic this year. We want the war in Iraq to be over. We want the government to be opened up again, and we want our jobs back. We demand the return of the rule of law, habeus corpus, an end to the Military Commissions Act, and the re-outlawing of torture. But what we do not want is a sudden shift to cause chaos and even more division. And that can be avoided by making sure that the conservatives have a voice in the new government to come.

Best of all, like I said before, it would pretty much gut John McCain's candidacy, and that, in and of itself is a good argument in favor of a Hagel pick. Imagine McCain with his senile old fingers on the button, merrily singing 'Bomb Bomb Iran.' Yes. A Unity ticket would be the best step forward for the country. The country we ALL love and wish to get back on the course we left three decades ago. The country we all wish to heal, and end these divisions that have been shoved down our throat by fools from both sides. And as hard as it is for the left to swallow, Obama should very seriously take a look at Chuck Hagel as his choice for Vice-President. It would give us the time to vote out of office all of those in the House and Senate who betrayed the trust of the People by providing the needed balance while we the People do some house cleaning in Washington. Yes, I mean you Joe Lieberman, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Jon Cornyn and Sam Brownback for starters. There's many more on the list of 'must go', but we can begin with these traitors first.

Minimum Wage Increase? You're Crazy!

Differing political factions are already at each other's throats over the July 24th raising of the federal minimum wage to $6.55 per hour. Part of a three year phased in total increase that will be finalized next year, the federal minimum wage will rest at $7.25 per hour for non tipped employees, with states such as Minnesota receiving exemptions for businesses that make less than $500,000 per year.

The usual cry and hullabaloo coming from the far right about the increase contain mostly all of the same types of arguments of supply and demand. They whine about employers having to lay off employees to save money, and employ illegal workers. They bald faced call this a Communistic government for allowing for the increase in wages to the poorest of the poor, while they themselves threw the economy into the toilet with their no money down speculation on stocks and bonds of all kinds. Since they have screwed the pooch, as they say, they figure that it must be the poor that become the fall guy once again with their baloney arguments of the minimum wage being the cause for the ills of the country.

Let's tear a big giant gaping hole in their argument.

In 2006, the Fiscal Policy Institute released a report on their findings about just these claims of higher minimum wages causing job losses and higher prices, and, you know, the whole world going to hell in a hand basket. A non partisan group, they focus on nothing but tax, wage, and economic issues, and how they affect the quality of life for Americans. In the Executive Summary of their report entitled "States with Minimum Wages above the Federal Level have had Faster Small Business and Retail Job Growth", they give data that shows exactly what the title of their report says.

They examined the argument that higher minimum wages cause small employers ( those with 50 workers or less) to experience sharp cost increases, thereby lowering employee levels and found it to be a baseless contention. As a matter of fact, the Institute found that in states that have traditionally had a higher than federally mandated minimum wage, the total job growth was larger and faster, especially in the retail sector, who employ the country's largest minimum wage workers. They state in their report that "The simplistic introductory economics prediction that an increase in the minimum wage will result in job loss clearly is not supported by the actual job growth record."

In fact, quite the opposite holds true. In what they call the 'Henry Ford' effect, higher minimum wage gives small business employers an incentive to hold on to workers due to the higher costs involved in training new employees. And of course, the businesses involved make more money overall, because an employee is much more likely to purchase products produced at their place of employment if they have more money to spend, which in turn actually boosts the economy overall.

Going into detail, the study further shows data that supports their findings by showing growth data in the ten states and the District of Columbia that traditionally have had higher minimum wages than federally mandated. Between 1998 and 2006, the latest years for which data was available at the time of their report, the Institute shows that in those ten states the number of small businesses GREW by 5.4%, while in the other 40 states, the growth was smaller at 4.2%. That may not sound like much, but when we're talking about the overall economy, that's a huge difference. Also in these same states with higher minimum wages, job growth GREW by 6.7% vs. 5.4%, again a big difference.

Within the retail industry, higher wage states saw new retail businesses increase by 0.6%, while lower wage states actually had declines of 0.3%. Combining retail and other small business growth in total, the report finds that between 1998 and 2006, states with higher minimum wage laws saw an increase in total employment levels of 9.7% compared to 7.5% for lower wage states. Even more telling are the numbers showing that in just the retail sector, job levels increased by 10.2% in higher wage states, and just 3.7% in lower wage ones.

The Institute also found the argument that employers would cut back workers hours as a result of the increased wage to be false. If anything, the study finds that between 2005 and 2006, median and mean hours increased

So the simplistic THEORETICAL supply and demand arguments hold no water. Going to an even higher level of economic indicators, the Institute points out that the wage increases of 1996 and 1997, in a 1999 Economic Report Of The President show NO adverse effects on either employment levels or small business levels.

It seems to boil down to one thing and one thing only. The brainwashing by corporate America of the American people that dictates lower wages are good for you is just that, brainwashing. If it saves one penny for business, then the far right will lie right to your face and make you believe it. Even as all of the data shows the exact opposite of the issue they are decrying, they'll come up with fabricated and phony side issues to distract you from the fact that you're ultimately going to have less money in your pocket. This latest increase of 70 cents per hour is going to break no one's bank, nor is it going to allow for the poorest of the poor to be riding around in big black armor plated SUV's. What the arguments against increasing wages for all Americans to a living wage really are, are arguments in favor of a dual class system of haves and have nots. That's how simple it really is.

Don't believe the phony pro-corporate mumbo jumbo of higher wages meaning less employment. Those arguments are made by either the brainwashed or the corporate shills who come up with made up numbers and discard out of hand actual research studies that prove them to be completely misleading everyone. Forget Arnold's trying to force state workers in California to live on the new $6.55 per hour, let's have Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court, along with every CEO in America be forced to live on minimum wage for one full year, and you'll see them come running back to increase the wages of all Americans to a level of unprecedented proportions. End of Story.

Harry Reid: Democratic Super Hypocrite

As two wars rage across the seas, unemployment rises inch by inch, poverty levels increase as the middle class is systematically torn asunder, and with all of the other pressing problems confronting our nation, what did Senate majority Leader Harry Reid (D) Nevada do all day? He held a Senate Judiciary Meeting to underscore the need for more money for local and state police to combat polygamy, calling it 'organized crime'. He also called for a federal task force to be set up to investigate what he described was 'a growing threat across the entire country'.

Even though there were members of various different polygamous communities that asked to be heard and to testify at the hearing, Reid refused to even allow them to attend the proceedings. Jim Bradshaw, an attorney for the FLDS Church said ""It is disturbing that they are profiling a group of people for their religious beliefs. If they did this to any other group, there would be outrage." And he's right. Imagine a Senate hearing to denounce far right Christian groups such as Rev. Hagee or Pat Robertson, who in my mind, are much bigger threats to our country that any polygamists. And organized crime? Oh, come on now Reid! "I am here to tell you that polygamist communities in the United States are a form of organized crime," he said. "The most obvious crime being committed in these communities is bigamy, child abuse — teen and pre-teen girls are forced to marry older men and bear their children. They commit welfare fraud, tax evasion, massive corruption and strong-arm tactics to maintain what they think are the status quo. These crimes are systematic, sophisticated and are frequently carried out across state lines."

Ok Mr. Hysteria, get your facts straight before you run your scare tactics to denounce a religion you don't personally believe in. According to Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, there is no need for any task force, as he and his Utah counter part, Mark Shurtleff are in constant communication with various polygamous sects, and monitor very closely whether there is any abuse going on. So Reid, who is a Mormon himself, is using the case of Warren Jeffs to lump all people and groups that practice polygamy into one big criminal conspiracy, when the truth is that Reid doesn't have a clue as to what he's talking about.

According to Reid, the U.S. Government should actively go after people of all different faiths. Some Muslims still practice polygamy. Ugandan families that emigrate to the U.S. still practice polygamy as well as others coming from Africa. It's not just those of the FLDS Church that believe in polygamy as part of their religion, but faiths of all kinds around the world have the same belief system. So I guess we'll have to find them all and round them up also.

The Australian Government just turned down a request to legalize polygamous marriage, but they also aren't going to go after people who practice it. But Reid and other puritans who believe that we should not tolerate others who practice their faith differently than they do, would have us go through another 1880's type of witch hunt against Mormons. Let's be realistic here. The only reason the main Latter Day Saints Church doesn't openly practice their belief in polygamy any more is in order to survive. They were coerced into agreeing to end the practice.

But let's go one better there Harry. Let's arrest all of those Catholic priests who have abused children, and set up a special federal task force to oversee their criminal activities. Or another one to investigate all of these so called 'Christian charities' that receive millions upon millions of dollars and do nothing with the money but enrich themselves. How about Congress go after the criminals in the Oval Office, you know, the ones we elected you to go after but then wouldn't because you're all in the same bed together. What is wrong with this guy's brain with trying to introduce government intrusion and oversight over people's personal religious beliefs?

Are there abuses that occur in these sects? Of course. But there are abuses in every religion and every denomination of every religion, but that does not mean that every single sect that practices polygamy are an evil criminal conspiracy. I mean, come on now Harry, if you'd like to talk about criminal conspiracies, we could take a look back at the land deal that you walked away with over $1 million dollars after paying $10,000 to your friend of 50 years to gain control over a tract of Las Vegas property of 160 acres. After getting that sweetheart deal, you then introduced favorable legislation to force lubricant companies to not abruptly cut off supplies to distributors. What was it that your friend of 50 years did again? Oh. That's right. He was a lubricant distributor. And after taking full control of the property, you introduced more legislation to build a bridge a few miles down the road across the Colorado River. All that development on the property wouldn't have anything to do with the need for a bridge paid for by the taxpayers would it? Talk about criminal conspiracies.

Harry Reid should spend his time doing the People's business, not trying to legislate religion. And if you're going to hold a kangaroo Senate hearing, the least you can do is not stack the deck against those you wish to persecute. By not allowing members of different polygamous communities to testify, only victims of abuse, the hearing could have been run by Joe McCarthy and no one would have known the difference. Reid should just go sit in a corner where he can't do any more harm, and wait to get voted out of office. He won't stand up to Bush. He won't help impeach the real criminals. He'll participate in shady deals himself, and then point the finger of indignant righteousness at others. Why not go after the Amish while you're at it you hyocrite? Better yet, why not just leave people to live their own lives? Yep, there's something wrong with Harry all right, and hopefully the voters of Nevada know it also.

An Experiment That Ended With An Evil Vote

In May of 2007, several Congresspeople took a challenge to try to survive on $21.00 per week. That $21.00 had to feed them for that entire week, meaning they had just $1.00 per meal, or $3.00 per day. Calculating the average Food Stamp allotment, and trying to raise awareness of hunger in the United States, they set off on their mission. Here's what they found.

Attempting to stick to the rules, Rep. Tim Ryan (D) Ohio, couldn't afford to buy a dozen eggs because they were too expensive, and would have broken his $1.00 per meal budget. Rep. Jim McGovern (D) Massachusetts, found himself at his own fundraiser dinner that cost $20.00 per person, but couldn't eat anything there due to his challenge. He looked over the mounds of food piled high across the serving tables, then sat and ate the lentils he had cooked and brought with him in a brown paper bag.

McGovern and Republican Rep. Jo Ann Emerson were intending to introduce legislation that would have added a mere $4 billion dollars to the food Stamp program's budget, and giving recipients approximately an extra $10.00 per month to feed themselves. Of all the Congresspeople who took the challenge, not all of them even made it to the end of the week. Ryan was caught eating pork chops in a hotel restaurant because, he said, he would have been too weak and might faint trying to give a commencement speech.

There were a few others in Congress who were willing to take the challenge, mostly Democrats, and all of them invariably came to the same conclusion. There was no way that any one person, let alone families, that could survive on current Food Stamp levels, given the rising costs of housing, food, heat, and gas. In California, Rep. (D) Barbara Lee's week long diet consisted of mostly crackers, beans, tortillas, and rice. Illinois Democrat Jan Schakowsky found she could afford one tomato, one potato, one head of lettuce, and 5 bananas.

Other organizations had representatives join in and take the challenge. Most notable was one called MAZON, whose president, Eric Shockman, noted that even though he managed to not starve for the week, the change in diet from healthy, nutritious food, to peanut butter, bread, and other cheap, fattening food, had caused him to feel ill, weak, lethargic, and depressed. He said he'd never been so happy to see actual 'real food' again.

Taking into account that the experiment was flawed from it's inception, even if it had good intentions, the fact still remains that using the $21.00 per week standard is a little misleading. Most recipients, for one reason or another, do not receive a full allotment, but only partial, due to factors such as having an income of minimum wage, or even cash assistance can lower your Food Stamp amount. In some cases, recipients are jumping through hoops to gain an extra $10.00 per month. Due to recent changes ( recent as in since Bush took office), in the way income and property is calculated to determine how much in Food Stamp assistance one is eligible for, some people end up with no help at all. They might be making one dollar a month over the threshold that the Dept. of Agriculture and the Dept. of health and human Services declares is the poverty level de jour. Others receiving both cash assistance get the shaft when election year raises to their cash benefits come around, usually $10 to $20 per month, because the extra cash makes their food stamp allotment go down. So they've actually gained nothing. And they've been pulling that scam since the 1990's.

So let's just say they should have used a formula for their experiment of about $14.00 per person per week, or about 68 cents per meal. But it was all for nothing anyway. Having been stalled time and again in the Senate, the legislation to give the poor one extra bowl of porridge a month was shot down. In one of the coldest, callous and evil votes to ever take place on the floor of the Senate, President Bush's recent fake 'stimulus' plan was only agreed to by the 'compassionate conservative' far right Republicans after the Food Stamp increase was taken out of the bill. Food for the poor? Bah! You must be out of your mind! No bid contracts for friends and friends of friends in the billions and billions? Absolutely!

And so another year goes by with the poor struggling to feed their children peanut butter while in the Congressional dining hall, they'll have Filet Mignon on the menu. For free. Paid for by you, the taxpayer. Nothing but the best for the American Aristocracy you see.

See, the poor don't have multi-million dollar lobbying firms who can send the Senators and Congresspeople to exotic locations on 'fact finding' missions that include tours of all of those exotic golf courses and five star hotels. That doesn't fit into their $14.00 per week budget.

But then the ridiculous arguments will come pouring in from those sociopaths amongst us that cry that the poor are getting a free ride and should be forced to get a job. They throw this out there in order for you to think that maybe the poor don't have it so bad after all. But what they don't include in their red herring argument is the fact that fully one half of all Food Stamp recipients do work, and still can not afford to feed themselves or their families due to the slave wage mentality that's been foisted on us all. This "Let them eat cake" way of thinking that has turned America from a kind and compassionate country into a nation of Me Only people. The powers that be still pit us one against another, spouting nonsense about America being one big happy family as they drive wedges between the rich and the middle class, and the middle class and the poor. Until they need suckers to go and get killed in some country no one could give a flying fig about. Only then are we united under the falsehood of that our freedom is under attack.

But as the middle class disappears in an intentional attempt to start a new Gilded Age in America, a few more people's eyes are opened every day. People are starting to see what it's like to try to squeeze that extra serving off a ham bone. And as more people slip below the poverty line, Congressional leaders who claim to be on the side of the people, such as Feinstein and Boxer, both of whom voted with the Republicans, along with many other Democrats, and said nay to more food for America's children, will hopefully be forced to seek other employment themselves. Because no matter how many times we try to sweep the issue of poverty and hunger in America under the rug, it keeps popping up again and again. Wouldn't it be easier to do something about it than to ignore the problem until a full 3/4 of Americans end up living in poverty? Do they think that the People would stand for this for very long?

Ask each candidate that's running for office what they intend to do about more Americans being below the poverty line since the days of Lyndon Johnson, and what they intend to do to ensure that America does not end up being a third world banana republic. And if their answer is to let the markets do their job, run as far and as fast as you can to the other person that's running. Ask them if they're aware of the hunger problem in this country, that American children go to bed at night with no food. Then ask the ones who voted against giving the poor help why they did, and ask their opponent if they'll do something different. We need change in America. Not just false hopes and fancy words that end up leaving things the way they are. We the People need to keep the issue of poverty and hunger in the spotlight until the politicos understand that we're not going away until they do something about it. Write your representative today and tell them to help the starving people in this nation before they ship another bag of rice overseas, period.

What Are We Going To Do Without Bush?

With only a little while left until the elections in November, I have had the sudden epiphany that those of us who enjoy bashing him on a near daily basis, are about to lose our greatest source for laughter and derision in quite some time. Looking out across the political landscape, one could always see John McCain and his clown posse of a campaign and use that as fodder for our blogosphere, but it would be too short lived and somehow unsatisfying.

How is anyone ever going to be such a gaffe machine as to produce such gems as " "But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me." Dec. 21st, 2001 Just three months after 9/11.

Or “There’s no doubt in my mind that we should allow the world worst leaders to hold America hostage, to threaten our peace, to threaten our friends and allies with the world’s worst weapons.” Sept. 5th, 2002.

Who could forget "“The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the — the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice.” Oct. 27th, 2003.

And after the recent G-8 summit, Bush thrust his fist into the air and shouted his Freudian slip of ""Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter!"

What's going to top some of these sayings by the most incompetent person to ever grace the Oval Office? Just what are we going to goof on when the village idiot retires to his ranch, or flees the country to Paraguay? There's been so much and so many many blunders and gaffes that we couldn't keep up with them all if we tried.

Now, John McCain might have been fodder for our keyboards due to to unerring ability to make a fool out of himself, such as his telling reporters that Iraq was on Pakistan's border to prove his foreign policy credentials, but come on, we all know the Republicans have decided to sit this one out. There's no way they put forth this senile buffoon with any real intention of holding on to the White House. (Unless of course they intend to steal California this time, hahaha, Hmmmm.)

So who is that going to leave us? Cheney will be gone or in prison, Rumsfeld is hiding out in his underground bunker plotting his next war, Rice is going to Paraguay with Bush after he divorces Laura, and Mukasey will be wandering around K Street in an amnesiac dementia. They say you never miss something until it's gone, and it's going to hold true with the departure of the Bush dictatorship. Gone are the jokes of sulphur burning at the U.N. podium. Jeez, I sort of miss the guy already. It's almost going to be like when you break your leg and sit in a cast for three months. You hate the damned thing, but when they finally take it off, your leg feels weird and you almost kind of miss the cast!

Can we goof on Obama when he wins the Presidency? So far he's given us not much to go on. Yes, there will be plenty of time after the election to snark all over him and whomever he picks as his Vice-President, but that doesn't help in the short term. So I've come up with a solution of sorts, but it's going to take a lot of cunning and guile to pull off. I know the idea is radical and some will decry the notion. But after the war crimes trial and conviction, could we not make Bush the official New York City pooper-scooper? You know, the one in charge of cleaning up all the sh*t? It would be a fitting and funny punishment, don't you think, because he's leaving a huge pile of it behind for the rest of us to clean up.

Yep. As we move forward into a new era of American politics, there will no doubt be some nostalgia for the days when we could all write about and laugh about things like ""And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." Jan. 29th 2007. Or" "One of my concerns is that the health care not be as good as it can possibly be." April 19th, 2007

So just what we going to do without Bush? For starters, we can repair the damage he's done to our Constitution, Bill Of Rights, the Rule of Law, and our reputation around the world. We can stop torturing people, kill the domestic spying program, get out of Iraq, go get Bin Laden so he can tell us how much the neocons paid him, put an end to the abuse of power by the police in this country, and oh yeah, stop Wall Street from ripping off the taxpayers. Maybe we can produce some good paying jobs. End poverty in America. Go to the moon and beyond.

That's just a few of the things we can do when Bush is gone, Cheney isn't stalking the President on the White House lawn, and the American people realize just how badly they've been shafted. but that still doesn't give us a fall guy, so can those close to Rudy Giuliani convince him to run for the Senate, or Governor, or something? Please?