Sunday Updates -Tax Cuts, #Wikileaks, #Payback/#Leakspin, & #DADT

Ok, now that I've had a bit of time to process some of what's been going on lately (among other things), I think it's about time I get back to the weekly updates (and once the holidays are over, I'll finally be able to work on real posts again! Yay!)

• Crazy weather all over the world, from massive blizzards in the Midwestern US, to torrential rain in the Middle East... This winter is going to be brutal. I hate winter. Stupid global warming/climate change... [grumbles]
• Haiti was tormented this weekend by the arrival of yet another disaster in their country, decked in cargo pants and giant designer sunglasses. Can't catch a break, can they? [sigh] Ms. Palin's "humanitarian" trip was marked by the quizzical stares of perplexed Haitians (None of the people interviewed had any idea who she was. They're so lucky... I wish America could say the same. Damn you, McCain staffers!!!)-- who promptly decided that any publicity was good publicity, amongst the cholera outbreak and continued post-earthquake rebuild.
• Anyway... In LGBT related news- 
• The Prop 8 trial is back in court for the appeal! And is certainly looking good for our side.
• Illinois passed a civil unions bill. Progress is progress.
• DADT repeal is currently somewhat stalled. While we're hoping for Obama to step up and sign an executive order (a move he has stated he does not want to take), the fight isn't quite over yet. The stand-alone bill has been introduced in the Senate, however odds are, we aren't going to see a successful vote on it (or the DREAM Act) until this tax-cut issue is resolved.
• Speaking of tax cuts... Obama's deal with the GOP. Wow. Um, no, no, that's not a good idea, Mr. President. Since this is a huge story overall, I'll break it up into parts:
• Backstory: GOP threatens to block everything (yea, what else is new) unless they get to continue or expand tax cuts for the uber-wealthy. Obama, in what I'm sure was supposed to initially be a friendly gesture to keep things moving, met with McConnell, and made a deal, and then announced it to everyone - Democrats would get their wish of 1 more year of unemployment benefits and tax cuts for the middle class, and Republicans would get... everything else. Tax cuts for the top 2%, including a reduced estate tax.
• Here's why it's a bad idea - it actually raises the tax burden on the lower and middle classes (primarily by replacing a current tax cut with a payroll tax cut. For anyone making less than $20,000, and $40,000 for families, the payroll tax cut is smaller, and will basically leave us with smaller paychecks... Trust me, $80-100 LESS a month adds up fast when you're poor. A day after I shared this info with Care2, I discovered that the White House admitted it was true. So yea, guys, apparently it is actually true.) while giving the upper classes (especially those making over $5million a year) a bunch of very huge breaks that last for 2 years-- while unemployment benefits will only get 13 months of extension. We know that the continued tax cuts have been estimated to add a staggering $700+ billion to the deficit, but the CBO recently announced that this plan will actually add $858 billion. It will cost almost $100 BILLION more than the stimulus plan, and we actually got something positive out of that. This, not so much. So, yea, dreadful idea. I mean, I have nothing against compromise, but dude, it's not a compromise when it's a sneaky, back-door deal in which the other side gets everything and you get the wimpy consolation prize. Totally lame. Create jobs? I fail to see how continuing the same tax cuts that failed to create this magical trickle-down job thing will somehow work now that the rich can continue get richer without doing a damn thing-- well, nothing but screwing over the rest of us. So you're going to have to explain this one to me. I've tried, and tried, but nothing. Supply-side simply doesn't work.
• So what's happened since? - Democrats in Congress have basically revolted. 54 Dems in the House signed a letter, rejecting the deal. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders staged an 8.5-hour-long filibuster explaining why he did not agree with the President's decision. (Mixed feelings. Awesome, epic speech, but I really hate filibusters. Total waste of time, which we are seriously running out of. In just 3 weeks, the so-called "Teabaggers" take over, remember? And that's not even taking into account the holiday recess. Then again, maybe wasting time is in our best interests here-- waste enough, and ALL of the tax cuts will expire. Which will suck for us, yes, but will probably do a lot more good for the budget than this deal ever could.) Speaking of the TP, this is one thing we SHOULD actually agree on, though apparently they're split on this. TP "Patriots" says no, FreedomWorks (you know, the corporate leaders of the TP) says yes.
•  As a result of all of this, there are rumors of a possible rival in the 2012 Democratic Primary... Good idea, or bad idea? I personally think it depends on who it is... but overall, probably a bad idea. I don't know if there are enough of us to get a strong progressive in the White House, nor do I want the GOP to have the satisfaction of having their dreams of a "one-term Obama presidency" come true. (Ok, that one might be a little petty, but c'mon!)
• I think now I should get around to the whole Wikileaks issue. I won't/can't talk about my own opinions of it all right now, or any involvement I may or may not have in anything other than blogging about it ;-), but if you know my past or what I stand for, you should know where I stand.
•  Well, we know now how the world feels. Less than 2 weeks later, we have this long, lovely list of the government leaders' reactions. Some are negative, some positive, some indifferent. Will it spark an international war? Other than what's already been started, it's unlikely, for the time being.
• The "sex by surprise" charges brought against Assange in Sweden might be dropped if the US decides to go ahead with the new plan-- charging him with espionage. I'm not even going to go into how silly that is, (or how ignorant a certain someone sounds when she calls him un-American-- lady, he's AUSTRALIAN, not American.) or how strange consensual "sex-by-surprise" sounds when in the US or the UK, it wouldn't even qualify as sexual harassment, let alone rape. I'm all for women's rights of course, and I do believe that rape allegations should always be taken very seriously; but based on what information I have right now, I think that in this case it's likely it's a specious argument. Well, very suspect, to say the least. (Btw, if you want someone to get tested for STDs, wouldn't it make far more sense to do that BEFORE you sleep with them? And then not try to sell the story to tabloids & get "caught" via text messages? Just sayin... It sounds a little weird. But maybe that's just how things go down in Sweden. I don't know.)
• Over the past few weeks, the gathering known as Anonymous has been launching cyberattacks on opponents of Wikileaks-- primarily against the companies that have been censoring information or trying to shut down or block aid to the whistle-blower organization: Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, etc. They will be switching tactics away from the DDoS attacks of Operation Payback to a flood of information known as Operation Leakspin. The media--well, one half of it, anyway-- is very wrong about the group, though-- they're not cyberterrorists. Most of them aren't even hackers and were not involved in the DDoSing attacks. Their objective, as they state, is not about damaging or destroying anything, but getting noticed, and getting a message out, which is why the tactics have been changed. So again, I'm still not "officially" announcing my position on any of this, but tonight, I'll recruit for them. If you're interested in getting involved, or just finding out more information, email me or find me on IRC, Care2, or AIM. I know they need hosts, writers, editors and graphic designers. (Official Info & sites are somewhat hidden and change frequently due to government/corporate intervention plus various attacks from "enemies," so unless you're already involved, it might be difficult to keep up with them. I've been trying to keep an eye on all sides of things, to say the very least, and it sometimes proves to be a challenge... There's a lot going on.)
• I love Love LOVE Dennis Kucinich. "Wikileaks ... gave us 92,000 reasons to end the wars. Pick one!"
• There are rumors of a new Patriot Act for the internet. I'm hoping it's just related to that horrific, supposed law that gives the President the power to effectively shut down the entire internet (good luck with that...), and it's not the new horrific supposed law that allows them to tap into our IMs and emails and webcams, and is a continuation/expansion of this crusade against the P2P community... Call us paranoid, but this is a netizen's worst nightmare.
• I finally found a much better organized database of all of the cables and their contents, at the Guardian. (Yea, trust the British media to do it right!) Or you could just find one of the mirrors at this point. Either way, seriously, go check it out. You'll find out some pretty wacky things.
• Like how Iran is hiring ninjas to take part in political assassinations. Yes, NINJAS. (Let the ninja-pirate wars begin!!) So if you're unemployed and have wicked nun-chuck skillz, I'd get on that. Probably your best bet at a job nowadays...
• Or how Sarkozy chased a dog chasing a rabbit chasing a... well, I don't remember what, but diplomats share some damn weird gossip...

And most importantly... this past week saw the passing of Elizabeth Edwards, a woman of great grace and courage who fought for our rights to proper, affordable healthcare. RIP.

And I thought 2010 was bad. 2011 is looking to be a whole new level of Hell...

State of the "Union," Early Edition!

Wow, ok, quite a bit has happened recently, and there's a lot to talk about, so I thought I would do this now rather than wait until Sunday. (Especially since I haven't been here due to NaNo! I would have been here sooner, but I haven't been home much today...)

- The DADT press conference was yesterday, along with the release of the final report (PDF, & suggest you skip ahead to Section VI. It's kind of interesting/depressing/infuriating, but then it gets better. And a bit sad.) -- to make a long story short, the Pentagon now officially endorses repealing DADT immediately, but Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wants Congress to allow the military some time to prepare. How long, he can't say, but I guess it's still good news that one way or another, it's going to end.

- I just found out today that new offshore drilling off the East Coast has been BANNED for the next 7 years!!! But sadly, this news came after an offshore drilling rig exploded off the coast of New Orleans, injuring 3 people. Offshore drilling will be banned in certain sections of the Gulf until 2020. (So we have 10 years to stop it completely and create new alternatives!)

- Extended unemployment benefits were allowed to expire last night, several days after the most financially successful Black Friday we've had in a long time. Food banks are said to be preparing for a huge rush (so donate what you can!) My guess is this is going to be a very rough holiday season for many families (hence the rush to get the "best" deals last Friday), and this may very well be a bigger-than-anticipated hit to the economy, especially once holiday workers are let go. Job growth has been increasing, but it still isn't enough to bring us completely out of the red... But don't take my opinion for fact, I'm not an economist by any stretch of the imagination.

- Today is World AIDS Day. Get tested. (How do you know if you should be tested? Check out these general guidelines.)

- So I had this whole section on the Wikileaks thing, and it's gone. Don't ask where it went, I don't know. Point is,  [that's "telegrams" for all of us under 50, which, I've learned, are some sort of primeval communication method that existed prior to the invention of email and texting. Go figure ;-) ], revealing all sorts of state secrets and potentially straining our international relationships with... well... everyone.

- Here's something incredible - Texas (you know, that state that carries out close to one third of all capital punishment executions in the US?) might soon rule the death penalty to be unconstitutional. Yes, I said UNCONSTITUTIONAL. (Conservative red-state Texas wants to rule the death penalty unconstitutional. I think this may be the first -- and last-- time I'll ever say "Way to go, Texas!") Can you believe that?? It will be a huge victory for those of us who want to do away with the death penalty entirely, even if it's just a state thing
-- you know, provided it ever actually happens. I doubt it. But the argument being presented is that there are too many innocent people being killed-- "disproportionately high risk of wrongful convictions." (Haven't we also been telling them that for the longest time?) Hmm...

- What else is new? GOP threatens to filibuster forever unless they get their tax cuts for the rich. [yawn]  Have they done much else lately, or did I miss something between the "sticking up for the corporations?"

- Oh! I almost forgot. Remember I went off on a rant about how I got into a fight with all of those people on Care2 about the new food safety bill? It passed with bipartisan votes in the Senate. And people who aren't Tea Partiers (or hardcore hippies, apparently...) like it! (I'm off to go gloat in my room-- not really, it's totes bedtime.)


- NaNoWriMo is over!!! And I was a winner! Yay! Storyteller Knight was a winner! Yay! (Winning means writing over 50,000 words between November 1st-30th, by the way) So congrats to all of our fellow winners-- we did it! Way to go! (And I already have a story topic for next year... Sweet.)

- Wikileaks... Where do I even begin? I personally have mixed feelings about the whole affair, but let's take a look: On Monday, Nov 28th, Wikileaks  published almost 300 of over 250,000 leaked US diplomatic cables [that's "telegrams" to those of us under 50. Apparently telegrams are some kind of primeval communication method that existed before email and Facebook. Go figure ;-) ], revealing all sorts of confidential state secrets and potentially straining our international relationships with... well... everyone. Amazon has removed the Wikileaks sites from their servers today, though I was able to sneak a peek when it hit the net. Wikipedia has a long list of some of the contents. The director of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, is being considered for charges of espionage... you know, for leaking state secrets to the world. So... hmm. Again, mixed feelings on all of this.

I look forward to getting back to regular posts... though i do think I'm going to keep working on my novel for NaNo, if only because I left off during a very interesting argument, and I want to see where it goes... Goodnight!

P.S. - This is mostly a note to myself: Have a hilarious video link re: the TSA. I should find it.

Sunday Updates - What's going on out there?

Ok, let's try this. I still haven't finished that special post, because I've barely been home this weekend & haven't really been in the mood either. But I'm in such a great mood now, I figured hell why not see what's going on in the world. I'm going to try to make this a weekly Sunday thing. This way, we can recap last week and prepare for the new week all at the same time... Well, it sounded like a good idea before I said it :-D

Alright, here we go:

• Obligatory Sunday Anti-Tea-Party Op-Ed: Tea Party Talking Points, Translated Ok, enough silly fringe talk, let's get back to reality.
• Environmental News
• Gulf Oil Spill Update: BP well has officially been declared dead. Now if only we could get a proper cleanup going... The oil's still there, & the dispersants...
• Well this is just ridiculous - a Care2 blogger has issued a challenge, it seems. Wear only 6 items of clothing for an entire month. Buying less clothes is one thing, but simply wearing less is far more difficult for those of us who work, especially when we get dirty at work or have other obligations that require specific attire. And I DO pretty much wear the same outfit every day! (Uniform at work, though I do alternate between shirts & pants, & wash it all every few days or as needed.) Yes, life is easier when you don't have to think about what to wear in the morning, but for the majority of us, it's just not that practical or viable. I can only say that constantly doing tiny loads of laundry in order to have clean clothes & underwear for work is a bigger waste of energy than it's worth.
• Food & Diet: It seems that science continues to support what I've been saying about HFCS. (Which I guess makes sense, since my opinion is based on that science to begin with... I had this whole long rant on myspace regarding this, & myths surrounding soy...) Research regarding its effects on metabolism has been utterly inconclusive. As of right now, independent research it really is no worse for you than regular sugar. Sugar is sugar is sugar (though I would really suggest you go with more natural sugars, like beet or stevia or honey. Not because they're "better or you" or anything like that. Less random chemicals added, less refining, etc. But again, sugar is sugar. They're all pretty high in fructose, including honey and agave nectar, so seriously, just limit your sugar intake and you'll be fine.) It's not particularly good for you, like any other refined sugar product, but it's not going to kill you any faster than that other crap you're eating. It's the amount you're eating, not the product itself. But of course, it is in no way, shape, or form a "natural" product. Sorry, but it really pisses me off when items are marked "all natural" when they contain loads of artificial preservatives, flavorings, sweeteners, or colors. I'm so sick of green-washing -_-" but I'm also sick of the holier-than-thou attitudes of the Whole Foods/Trader Joes shoppers who snap at me for drinking a non-organic soda from Pathmark every once in a while. To each her own, ok? I may be a nature-loving eco-geek who screams at her mother for attempting to throw out an uncut 6-pack holder (that stupid plastic ring thing) on her birthday ("You're going to kill a dolphin !!!") & then fishes it out of the garbage & chops it up & then hides it with the recycling so it doesn't end up in the ocean, but jeez, lighten up a bit! :-P
• Also, you can check out this: Food Myths Busted. (most of it seems like old news, but still interesting.)
• What's Happening in Washington?
• w00t!! Elizabeth Warren has been appointed to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau! Sort of. We did it! (or rather, Obama realized that she really is the best candidate for some sort of advisory position regarding the bureau, & our incessant urging probably helped somewhat... maybe.) As the case may be, Warren is now a presidential economic advisor regarding the Bureau, and will be assisting the president in choosing a director... So... Looks like the job may not be hers. Harsh, man... Chins up, fellow liberals & progressives. It's not over yet.
• I'm starting to think that all politicians from Alaska are a little loopy. Unemployment benefits are unconstitutional?? I'm not even going to touch that, read it for yourself.
• It seems the GOP doesn't know what to do about the healthcare law. How about leave it alone. Or help us make it better.
• Between Palin & Angle & this O'Donnell character, I just really don't want to know. I don't care if she's dabbled in witchcraft or whatever she thinks she did (since Wicca has nothing to do with Satanism or Satanic altars...). So have I. I still have my Book of Shadows. (I wrote this really long spell/poem in calligraphy, I can't bear to throw it out!) Really, I just can't get past this whole "masturbation is adultery" thing. Last I checked, you had to be married to commit adultery. And she was a teenager when she said that, talking about other teenagers... who were probably not married. So what she's saying is you can't have sex with yourself, or someone of your own gender, or someone you're not married to, or allow yourself to ever feel or express any of your own 100% natural sexual urges even if you're not married because God gets angry & throws a tantrum when you're cheating on your non-existent spouse with your hand? And somehow it appears to make her feel like less of a person because her boyfriend doesn't need her in order to have an orgasm? And somehow that means she doesn't matter at all and might as well not be there? Hmm... Methinks her 1999 logic is a wee bit flawed, yes? News flash, honey: you can do it too, and I'm sure your boyfriend, or invisible husband, won't mind. Hopefully you've learned that by now. Plus I'm pretty sure the Monty Python gang had a go [video] at something like this too XD.
• P.S. - this woman is so damn annoying as a teen [video]. Typical nonsensical & religious crap. And the fact that she still seems to stand by a lot of it is pretty sad IMO. But Eddie Izzard was awesome, as he still is now.
• Tax Cuts: According to CNN, some economists believe we should extend the Bush Tax Cuts for everyone. I respectfully disagree. Middle class & lower class, fine, I've come to accept that as a necessary action, but the wealthy? Don't ever ask me to agree with you on that. I may not be a financial expert, but I'm not bad at math. Or logic. The government needs money to do good things for the country. The rich people have lots of money. Poor people don't. The poor people are great at spending money (because they have to in order to survive), and the rich people are great at saving money (because they have that luxury, among many others). Therefore, if you're going to take desperately needed money anyway, take it from the people who actually have it while either reducing or maintaining the burden on those who don't. Duh? We already know that "trickle-down" theory is complete and utter bullshit, so don't bother. Like I said, the rich are great at saving money. There's no reason why they should invest it in society voluntarily if they don't have to (other than the few altruists in the bunch). The top 2% will be just fine. A person doesn't need a $10 billion bonus in order to survive, but trust me, a $400 paycheck every few weeks is desperately needed if that's all you can get.
• Caribou Barbie: Does anyone care? I don't.
• Can't we All Just Get Along? Peace & Unity In the US: Check out One Nation Working Together.
• Immigration Reform: It would seem that we'll finally get a proper vote on the DREAM Act this week!!! If you missed my earlier posts on it, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act provides a conditional path to citizenship for undocumented minors who arrived in the US under the age of 16, provided they are accepted into college or join the military for at least 2 years.
• Stewart/Colbert: Huge rally on 10/30 in DC!!! Wish I could be there :-(
• Coffee Part USA: This upcoming Friday begins the Convention in Kentucky. If you can't make it (like me...), you can check out www.democracymeetup.com for information about what's going on, or watch the live stream of the conference here [video].
• LGBT rights: Well of course we'll always have bigots & homophobes who want to make homosexuality illegal, but those of us who actually give a fuck about equal rights for all can...
• TAKE ACTION: Via Care2 & the Human Rights Campaign, a Petition to pass ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) to prohibit employers from discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation. Federal laws currently only prohibit discrimination based on age, ethnicity, religion, nationality, & gender (not including transsexuals/transgender people, however.) Though my lovely state has a pretty decent anti-discrimination policy, if I do say so myself... at least, compared to the federal laws. We all still have a long way to go regarding marriage rights, however. (We recognize same-sex domestic parnerships, or a civil union with almost all of the same exact rights as a marriage, but thanks to DOMA, well... "Nevermind." Now's the time when we should miss Corzine (as if there ever were a time when we shouldn't. I had nothing against the guy except his smear campaign during the election & the fact that not much major happened during his term, which is why I preferred the Independent...) If it had ever been put before him, he would've signed same-sex marriage into law... & our current moron said he'd veto it. But enough about us, let's get on with the rest of the country...
• DADT: In addition to the DREAM Act, Harry Reid has included a repeal of DADT in the Defense Authorization Bill (which authorizes more military spending -_-" A worthy trade off? I hope so.) With the recent court ruling that DADT is unconstitutional (!!!), there has been a significant push for repeal now. Let's hope it goes through! (Haha, though I have to say I'm a little disappointed that I no longer have a surefire excuse to get out of military service should I ever be drafted. But if it keeps soldiers safe within their own ranks, and protects them from unfair abuse and discrimination, I'd gladly give that up!)

So, look at that! I got through the whole week's news without getting depressed too! Not bad. Anyway, I'm off to tell yet another "I want a threesome with a black girl!" bastard to fuck off. Don't ask, I don't want to tell. Well, ok, it sounds like a nice policy at face value, in some areas. You know, when someone's job or safety isn't on the line. No one should ever be forced to reveal information about their private lives. However, as that isn't the case...

I read a story of this one woman... She was a sergeant, I believe, and several of the men under her found out that she was a lesbian. They raped her, repeatedly, over the course of a year, and forced her to do other kinds of demeaning, violent sexual acts, under threat of telling the commanders her secret and getting her fired . And then they told them anyway. She was discharged from the army. The men never received any sort of punishment whatsoever. This woman lost everything because of this horrible law... her privacy, her safety, her rights, her peace of mind, her body, her career, her life. And thousands of men and women are abused everyday and can't say a word for fear of losing the careers they've spend their entire lives working towards-- a career in which they have literally put their lives on the line for their fellow soldiers and citizens. Because of who they love. Because of hate and fear and bigotry and religious zealots forcing their misguided beliefs on others. Tell me how that's just.

If my fucking state can promise that no one will ever have to be subjected this kind of treatment because of their orientation, why can't my government? Why can't the military?!?!?  

REPEAL DADT NOW!

I guess I wanted to be upset tonight.

Updates! Current State of the Union...?

Ok, so maybe it's been quite a while since I've finished a post. And there's just so much going on all over the place that I haven't been able to just stop for a moment to sort my thoughts and get them down. Between my vacation time this weekend, weird dreams, & attempting to read a book (when I really don't have the time to get past a chapter, speed reading and all, since I kept stopping to "argue" with the author...), & now I'm here trying to finish this post and a private one before I leave (for who knows where...). I'm sure you get my point. So I need to play catch-up with what's going on again. (Like when I took a week off to play video games & regain my composure after a total mental breakdown, & totally missed that whole Scott Brown thing... lol... Oh well, not like it turned out to be that bad overall.) Brief comments about the state of the country:

Single Payer Healthcare
-- Vermont is attempting to push through a single-payer program, but might be stopped by the federal law... The plan, championed by a grassroots organization and based on the idea of healthcare as an undeniable human right, advocates the abolition of all for-profit health plans in favor of a state-run non-profit system.However, the healthcare legislation passed this year has provisions for state programs that specifies that a state program cannot interfere with the insurance provided by large employers. (Kucinich attempted to get a waiver included in the legislation, but as usual, progressive ideas were quashed...) Story Available Here.

Arizona Immigration Law
--As far as I've seen, most of the Arizona law SB1070 is still blocked. Good news indeed... (Wondering if Hollywood/music scene is really against the law because it's become the "in" thing to do, or if they're seriously into it... Either way, works for me, I guess. We're humans first. Nationality second (though I can think of a ton of other things that matter more too). To add some weird news, Ms. Palin has decided she had to talk about our President's "family jewels" (to be polite here...) in relation to this law... Way to take the debate back to high school. (Not to mention it's kinda sexist -_-" C'mon, really? Yea, Democrats are wusses. But this phrase that basically means that only men have what it takes to get shit done? Bull. Though to quote the great Leopold "Butters" Stotch, girls just keep 'em on the inside :-D)

BP Oil Spill
-- The MSM continues to hide the fact that there's still oil all over the gulf and in Michigan too. (Article 1, Article 2). No, the microbes couldn't possibly have cleaned it all up already. Yes, normally oil would float, & perhaps it's not as visible in some areas, but you're forgetting that a) dispersants break it up into smaller & smaller pieces that spread out all over the place; b) those dispersants are HIGHLY TOXIC, not to mention the fact that crude oil is also HIGHLY TOXIC; c) oil can sink. Someone commented on a news article & told another person that they should "go back to science class. oil can't be on the ocean floor because it floats on water!" I think that had this commenter actually thought about science class, perhaps they would have remembered that the reason that oil floats is because it is less dense than water, however should the oil mix with something (say, a dispersant, or particles in the water like salt or debris...), it could easily become more dense than the water and sink to a lower level. Different oils have different densities. Crude oil on it's own is actually quite dense. When it's exposed to air, water, or bacteria, it gets denser-- the lighter parts evaporate away, leaving behind heavy sediment. (Look up Heavy Crude Oil.) So let's focus on cleanup & stop pretending the problem's gone just because we might not be able to see it.

Congressman Anthony Weiner's 9/11 Healthcare Rant
-- My favorite congressman Anthony Weiner went on another passionate rant recently over the 9/11 workers' healthcare. It was epic. (And I can't believe I missed it & had to find it on youtube on my phone at like 1 am Saturday morning... Luckily, his office sent me a link later, too.) It's one thing to be a passionate ranting lunatic when you're spouting lies and conspiracy theories and you do it all the time (*cough*glennbeck*cough), but Weiner is one of the few who actually sticks to facts and I love that he shows how he really feels... (If he's faking it, he should consider Hollywood; he really seems legit.) Democrats have to learn to get angry when they should be. Occasionally, sometimes it's good to lose your temper when people are being ridiculous. Sometimes, it's absolutely justified. When people's lives and livelihoods are at stake, have at it. I'll expect similar reactions once this BP mess is finally cleaned up...

Political Celebrity News
-- Ok, everyone's talking about it, so I'll just mention it really fast and get the "celebrity" gossip out of the way- Chelsea Clinton's dress was GORGEOUS. (And I don't usually like Vera Wang. Or excessively ruffly dresses. And omg Bill looks eerily thin... I think he looked a bit healthier before...) ^^"

Bush's Tax Cuts
-- Cute how Republicans want to extend tax cuts without paying for them, & add to the deficit, but anything Democrats propose has to be paid for and then some. Really, watching them bicker, from the outside, is just so amusing. Like hell should they keep the cuts. This is money the gov't should've had, so yea, time for the free pass to expire. We need revenue in order to fix a deficit, and Mitch McConnell's argument (that the tax cuts help the economy) doesn't really work here. If he were talking about people living below the poverty line, then yes, absolutely. If he were talking about the middle class, then yes, his argument would make sense. But the wealthy? Yea, no. This may be a bit obvious, but rich people tend to save money, & poor people spend. Every good economist knows that if you want to stimulate the economy, you give money to poor people, not to the wealthy. (Trickle-down theory doesn't work. It would be nice if certain people stopped "pretending" it does.) And tell me again how it's fair for the people who don't have money to pay taxes that ultimately benefit the wealthy, but the wealthy don't have to pay a dime? Seems a little backwards to me. So I'm with Greenspan on this one.

Petitions for Elizabeth Warren as Head of Consumer Protection Agency
--We're still trying to get Obama to pick Elizabeth Warren for the new consumer protection agency. The first time I heard about her, I thought she would be a shoe-in for the position (this was just before the bill was passed). But hopefully, with enough of an "outburst" so to speak, we'll be able to influence Obama to appoint her... Petitions:
CredoAction
Change.org (also for Credo)
Petition from Senator Bernie Sanders (D,VT)
Bold Progressives/Credo (Credo's really into this one, huh...)
Public Citizen

In the end, it seems pretty likely that she will be nominated. She's perfect for the job. Plus it was her idea in the first place, wasn't it? So, best of luck, Ms. Warren, we're fighting for you!

I'm off to find more ice for my knee. (I haven't a clue what happened the first time, but it was already bruised pretty badly before I smashed it into the corner of my nightstand... Ow...) Back to work tomorrow... And eventually I'll get back to a regular post.

Internet Sales Tax?! Again?? Ugh...

Before I even get to what I was going to say today, this was just brought to my attention:

Several Democrats just presented a bill to extend sales-tax to the internet. They call it the "Main Street Fairness Act." While the internet sales tax argument is incredibly old, I believe the odds of it actually passing are getting better. In 2001, Bush extended a "temporary" ban on internet taxation for 2 years (originally passed in 1998). At the time it was believed that taxing internet sales would hinder the growth of the WWW as well as it's economic potential, especially during the holiday seasons. In 2007, a moratorium was passed again to suspend all internet taxes for 7 years-- however, as this was before the "Great Recession," many states are looking to expanding taxation to the internet now. It is considered a "Fairness" Act because it is intended to level the playing field between online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores.

I'm still thinking this through, so consider this my official "knee-jerk" reaction. (Because even I have those moments... often. ^^") I don't think this is really quite that big of a deal, but for the sake of argument, let's act like it is. Personally, I feel like I should be opposed to the idea of this (seemingly regressive) taxation bill. I'm concerned that it may have a too much of negative effect on the population and sales than it would have a positive effect on the government, even if it is just a small (and relatively simple) sales tax. Many people already can't afford basic (already taxed) things (due to high levels of unemployment, increasing costs, etc.), especially in states that are already heavily taxed (like California, which is the highest in country at 8.25% minimum, & can get to over 10.75% with local taxes). I'm assuming it was meant to be "fair" to small business owners and brick-and-mortar retailers that already have state sales taxes, and in that aspect I suppose it succeeds. And I'm sure it could actually bring in millions of much needed revenue. But I still have to wonder, why is this the "next step" instead of something bigger and more effective? Why this instead of proper financial reform? Bringing more resources into a broken system doesn't really help anyone...

Why are we still wasting money on stupid crap? I would much rather prefer that we cut "defense" spending & stop spending billions to kill people (including death row inmates who cost us hundreds of millions, even though life in prison is much cheaper), take out the troops stationed all over the world, end the "war on drugs," and stop letting CEOs pour funds into tax-free offshore bank accounts before we add new taxes on the middle class, especially considering what's going on in Congress. Taxation is necessary, for things like schools and roads and things like that, but instating another regressive tax (after almost all of Congress-- all but 2 people-- voted to suspend it) for the middle class after refusing to extend unemployment just seems like another slap in the face. Many of us shop online to save money (and gas), and find a wider range of items that may not be available in our local communities. Buying goods online can help cut down on impulse buys, because you can see and control exactly how much you're spending before you get to the register. You find what you need at the price you can afford and you get out. Shipping costs a fortune already, and some sites/states do still require some sales tax, so I don't even want to imagine just how much more we're going to have to pay to rectify the mistakes of Wall Street & certain groups within the Federal Government... Besides, which state would get the funds anyway? Say I'm shopping for a new composter on Amazon (since my current method is coming along nicely but maybe I'll want to upgrade to a "real" one). Would my state, get the sales tax, would Amazon's headquarter's state, the manufacturer/warehouse, would it just go to the federal gov't, what? How much would that tax be? Same as the state tax? (Again, which state? They have yet to explain any of this... The bill isn't even online yet... Maybe it's the same way iTunes does taxes? Though there's a distinct difference between a tangible item and a computer data file.)

However, from the government's perspective, I think it does make some sense. E-commerce taxes are lost revenue (assuming one can lose what one never actually had)... I suppose "potential" revenue is a better way to phrase it. Basic way to readjust/refresh any system - take/borrow from where there is a surplus or where you're not currently collecting, put it where it's most needed. Hone your resources. Work from there. I am not against tax-and-spend when it's greatly needed. I am glad to give what I can and should for a good cause. Borrowing from other countries is out - trust me, loans suck, avoid them as much as possible. I'm against regressive taxation -taking resources from the bottom to give to the top, when you can just as easily take from the top. Bottom should be an absolute last resort-- otherwise, you're just contributing to poverty and homelessness instead of solving the problems. Statistically speaking, most of the people who shop online are middle and upper-middle class. This tax to me just seems like they've run out of ideas (and they're going back on a promise. Though why we'd be surprised about that, I don't know. After that jerk of a judge decided to overturn the drilling moratorium, why would any of us be surprised if someone tried to overturn the internet sales tax "ban"? Obama's done a decent job doing what he actually can-- albeit somewhat disappointing still, but there's still time--but the Congress and the Supreme Court are continuing to piss me off... )

I think it's in our best interests to keep taxes where they are (or at least, where they were prior to Obama's tax cuts for the middle class, & Bush's tax cuts for the upper class), or implement a small version of a progressive tax system, and try to limit spending to the essentials - health, food, job creation, schools. If every single person in Congress gave half their campaign money towards fixing one area of the budget deficit or to one of the areas on that list (instead of making idiotic videos featuring a twisted version of Lincoln, and demon sheep...), we could be much better off. Stop wasting what we don't have, focus on what we do have and put it where it's most needed. (-_-" Reason #1 why I'm canceling my vacation and saving that money for loan repayments, food, charities, etc. Have the money now, but it could be put to better use, as much as I want/need a vacation. I'll take a smaller, more local trip instead!)

And really, right now I really can't understand why many people are so angry with the government but not furious that the corporations and the wealthy are allowed to do whatever they want to make and keep as much money as possible, while people are struggling to survive-- especially now that it really hits home with unemployment so high. Yea, the government's (read: Reagan's spiral of) deregulation is a major cause in this, but money talks. It's why corporations chose to outsource and hire undocumented people to fill jobs, it's why many people were tricked into loans and mortgages they never should have even been told to consider, it's why we have all of these problems and lawsuits dealing with bonuses and off-shore accounts and embezzlement. Sure, they go to prison for a few years sometimes, but where is the outrage and moral indignation? I hear a bit from the Coffee Party, and occasionally from other groups... I can't be the only one over here pissed off that 10% of the world's population "owns" 86% of the world's resources, when 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. Within the US, the top 10% of the richest people own 80%, while the bottom 40% has less than 1% of the resources. (And the "new" face of poverty in the US now also includes some of the "middle class." How sad is that???) Government vs. corporate, I'll take my chances with the group that's more likely to actually spend my money on something useful instead of a new yacht or summer home. Grr...

Anyway, I suspect I'm probably not thinking this through all the way just yet. It's probably a good idea in the end... And I guess it is quite fair for internet stores to be taxed just like brick-&-mortar stores... I think I'm just trying to be irrational & I'm complaining because I don't want to pay more ... Online shopping allows me to stay within very strict spending limits, and I'm really not looking forward to a 7% price increase (even with the way Amazon prices waver)... & I need to get to work on making computers out of sand, as corporatism is wearing me out again (she says, as she types away on her HP laptop with Windows Vista, sipping on a Smirnoff Triple Black with Lime... [sigh] One of these days...)

Here's a pretty decent article that outlines some of the pros and cons of taxing e-commerce. Will proceed to Google this topic until I get bored (3-4 more sites I bet...). Will just be going down the Google search results for a while until I see something that's boring and simple enough to share...

Like this. One down. And here... Two down & I'm already bored because I found cute emoticons... ^^" Still finding more cons than pros on this one... If you have constructive and/or kind criticisms, please be my guest. (You can find me at DarkAngelKiely on AIM, Care2, or half the anime forums on the internet :-P) My mind is all over the place lately...

And Now, for Something Completely Different... But not really. Pictures!

Every week I like to check out this gallery of the top political cartoons. Some are eh, but others... hilarious. Thought today maybe I'd share a few, maybe comment every now and then, just to mix things up. (And if I'm not horribly mistaken, clicking on the picture should enlarge it... maybe.)

Remember way back when I was joking about splitting the US down the middle and we each take a side? If you haven't noticed yet, in the bottom corner it says "I didn't notice anyone trying to sneak across." And you wouldn't! Maybe we'd be sitting on the fence, as I would from time to time... Mostly to see what's going on on the other side, I suppose. But just think how different each side would be... And yet, how similar. We're all human. We're all Americans. We do what we do because we love our country despite it's problems, and we want to see it flourish. We all have the same problems, just different ways of solving them.... And I see a social experiment coming on... Think the APA review board would let me get away with it??? I'm totally serious :-D
And obviously this whole border with Mexico thing too has people pretty divided (regarding immigrants crossing over it, I mean... Though frankly, and I know this wouldn't sit well with many Mexicans, I wonder if we could work out some sort of deal that kind of combines us in some way... After all, technically speaking the we're the ones who invaded Mexico by annexing Texas. Texas had claimed independence from Mexico, but they were the only ones who believed that... [Texans had an annoying habit of seceding from whatever country they belonged to. So I say let's just let them be independent & see how that works out. Good luck.] Then the Texans decided they didn't like the boundaries, & claimed that the borders included land & a river that they absolutely did not, including huge parts of (what became) 3 other states. (There's all this junk about saving Texas from a Mexican invasion, but it's not invading when it's yours, so...) Polk was an idiot who thought it would be a good idea to steal Texas, thereby declaring war on Mexico (even though Mexico flat out told him to butt out), stealing the land, killing everyone in the area. Somewhere in this Cali declared independence from Mexico, The Americas forced whoever was alive to sign a treaty (somehow I don't think gunpoint counts...) giving them and called it a day. To put it simply, the US invaded Mexico, stole their land, and made them give us more. All the future war heroes were there - Grant, Lee (another idiot... He didn't like them, but I miss the old Radical Republicans, back when Republicans stood for civil/human rights... So much nicer than our modern ones, IMO...), Stonewall... We eventually gave Mexico a few million dollars to shut them up (despite the fact that the land they gave up was worth far more than that - Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Cali, New Mexico, Texas-- and we shoved them back to the Rio Grande. The southern border of the US is all stolen property... I couldn't blame them if they started shouting "Take Our Country Back!" like those silly tea party signs. At least then it'd make some sense. Speaking of which...

Even though we've seen a drop in private hiring, and a surge in government hiring due to the census, we're still in a MUCH better situation than we were before... And I've seen recent evidence that this was not due to the "natural" ebb and flow of the market, but had a huge boost from the stimulus bills-- and as a result (as most provisions are about to expire), we're going to see a drop this summer... Housing is down, construction is down, wages went up a smidge but private sales aren't going up anymore, so... There's a bit of a hiring freeze. Unemployment will take a hit once the census people are done (though I'm thinking a lot of them are probably around my age, since that's a huge hiring target group for that type of job). Teachers are going to see a plunge as well, I'm sure. But despite all of this hardship, and the fact that the country is breaking down on the political front so to speak, things are still better than they used to be... We are still progressing, as slow as the process may be.

This one's a bit older, I believe... And kind of creeps me out, because I was in some forum a few weeks ago and a few cops were there talking about this exact thing and how they do actually have a scale (these particular cops, not all cops in general)...(Granted, in November I had spent a little too much time following related conversations on Stormfront -- a "white nationalist/supremacist & neo-Nazi/KKK" site-- & the Nation of Islam - a "black supremacist/separatist/nationalist" website for a Social Theory paper on hate groups. Scariest 3 hours of my life. I'd like to not run into these kinds of people IRL. One group from one of the sites would call me names & try to kill me, the other would call me names & probably let me live but kill someone while dragging me around with them, & I'd really rather not ever get involved... Ack. Instead of writing my paper, I instead wrote a list/article about why both were absolutely insane. [One group had 2,000 members join immediately after Obama won, which crashed the server. They panicked that the "white rule" was going to end - their words, not mine. Even Fox's "Papa Bear O'Reilly" called them out on their hateful spamming of his polls. The other group is basically the same, except they're also much more homophobic, & most of their hateful speech is offline and their skin tone is a bit darker. Both groups pretty much worship Hitler and blame the Jews for ruining the world... so... ye-a... Fucked up.] That part was fun, but writing my paper at 5 am before class wasn't so much...)

"100% Natural, for that Naturalized U.S. Citizen Look. Protects Against Police Harassment"-- Someone needs to give this to Boehner, 'cuz he doesn't even look human anymore... Most humans aren't naturally orange.

Hmm... Lesser of 2 evils?

Now this one is just too true...

Someone on FB/Care2 suggested plugging the leak with Beck & Palin so they'd be useful for something other than humor, but Limbaugh's mouth is just too big... (Plus I think that probably counts as physical violence, so I can't condone it...) But the good news is, recent attempts have been working to at least lessen the flow and contain some of the oil... Once we get it stopped, we can get to cleaning up (trying to see if somehow GP or Environment America would sponsor a trip down there... I think I could take off from work, I just don't know about plane tickets, HAZMAT suits or sleeping arrangements...) Also, while it's wonderful that so many organizations and businesses are chipping in hundreds of thousands of dollars towards cleanup costs, BP MUST BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERY DAMN PENNY!!! ^^" Sorry for yelling. (Poor Australia, too, lol. They keep looking forward to Obama's visit, & he keeps canceling at the last minute to fix massive problems here and get shit done...)

Another friend was talking about how other countries and indigenous peoples are forced to abide by the boundaries set by European invaders. (Reminds me of that whole "might makes right" argument. Right and wrong are determined by whoever is currently in power, the strongest and loudest are the ones who will make the rules, etc... The strongest bully determines the legitimacy of everything...) I really want to quote this all, but if my ping.fm post ever shows up you can read it all for yourself... (But until then, here's the link to the article - Arizona One-Ups Itself: Public School Has Black, Hispanic Faces On Mural Changed to White « SpeakEasy. Look for BulletProofAir's comments. Article is sad, but the comments are lovely if you ignore the stuff about old people. I think they meant our grandparents, whatever category they fall into and not Baby Boomers (our parents) or even Gen X (today's young parents). Funny though that kids born after mid-1990s are Generation Z, the "New Silent Generation." We're breeding media-obsessed introverts... How weird is that? P.S. - What happens after them anyway --after generation Z??... Oh... Wikipedia says our kids will probably called Alpha.) What was I talking about again? lol...

[UPDATE- Principal apologizes, admits mistake, plans to go back to how it was. ]

So... let's try one last pic, cuz I'm getting bored...

I assume most people have heard about what's happening to text books...again. This happens every once in a while. I can't remember exactly when the last time was, but I remember talking about it in school when I was about 11 or 12... and again in high school. California is boycotting the textbooks. I believe every state should. Private schools can do what they want-- that's their prerogative. Christianity and it's "family values" have had a massive effect on history, but this is just overstepping boundaries. History is always rewritten to suit society, but a small minority should not dictate everything.

You should see what Fox wrote on this. (I'm not going to show you, it's just too embarrassing... for them. At least, it should be. I also just skimmed the list of articles on the page... So sad, really. I think some of their writers are in denial...) Though I trust PBS and college students  far more then I'll ever trust Fox again. I know that HuffPost may have wildly exaggerated some claims, but I found one blogger's play by play of the radio broadcast of the meeting, and a neutral college student's list of the biggest changes, as well as several other neutral sources including Politifact (which claims that some of the really-liberal sites' extreme accusations are half-true). (Even found a conservative Texas education site that refutes Fox's ludicrous claims... What a nice find... Though Fox wasn't entirely off on one point - these textbooks could verily end up anywhere in the country. It does depend on individual states, as the agency says, but that doesn't invalidate Fox's claim. So hey, Fox finally got something right!) While I think some of the changes could be great if the publishers could manage to be non-partisan about it ( for example, discussing the pros and cons of government regulation), others are so blatantly biased that it's actually offensive. Like how publishers now have to stress how awesome capitalism is compared to socialism/communism (which, btw, are NOT the same thing). Like taking out how race/ethnicities, religions, and genders have shaped society and history-- right there you're already taking out the history of music, which is HUGELY tied into so much of history... Women's rights, including suffrage, careers, and marriage... Gay rights, the Civil Rights Movement... Hell, we can even go waaay back to the Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening which led to the abolitionist movement! The Quakers too! How can you downplay that or cut it out? Also, I fail to see how they plan to take religion out while promoting "Christian values and the influence of Christianity on our Founding Fathers"? We as a "nation" (for lack of a better word at the moment) began as a group of settlers seeking religious freedom. Granted the whole witch hunt thing kind of fucked that up, and the pushy religious people who insisted on converting everyone to "save them from hell" kind of fucked that up a bit too, but the whole point was that the ideology of certain religious groups was not supposed to be forced on anyone, and a person should be allowed to believe in whatever he or she wants. Again, I'm not saying that religion isn't a huge part of our history, and that Christianity hasn't had an effect. But it's not the only religion that's influenced us, and I believe it's modern ideology and corresponding political agenda do not even remotely resemble the influences or teachings of our Deist Founding Fathers. In fact, Deism conflicts with most of Christian teachings... (google it.) Plus back then, the vast majority of those religious movements served as a progressive, liberal force for good, helping to free cultural groups from unfair social restraints. (Remember, the current group is only considered "conservative" in present times because it seeks to maintain or preserve how things were...) I also love how anti-miscegenation laws for "Caucasians and Mongolians," and the Oriental Exclusion Law, etc are being written off as not being racist towards Japanese people during the internment camp period of WWII... Because "Italians and Germans were there too!" Yes, that should absolutely be mentioned. It's not something we really learned much about in school growing up. I'm learning more about it as I type this and research... But I wouldn't exactly market it as proof that internment had nothing to do with racism. The Japanese were the first to go, for the aforementioned reasons. FDR and the newspapers said some pretty nasty things about Japanese-Americans, but I can't find anything about the Italians from that period... The German-Americans had a bad rep of course, and apparently 10-15% had a Nazi affiliation so it's hard to be surprised that people were freaked out and angry. But for the most part, they and the Italian-Americans were just "enemy aliens." (Not to mention the fact that even with anti-Italian sentiment back then, a lot of people regarded Italians and Germans as Caucasian and not a minority "race" as they are of European descent, so...) The Japanese were the only ones to have racial epithets added to the "war crime" of being of the same ethnicity as the enemy.

And now for something completely different. Since I sort of changed topic. On a completely hilarious note, apparently some extremist conservatives started freaking out that Christmas and the Constitution were going to be written out of textbooks... Best April Fool's joke ever? lol... (Followed by some crap about how liberals hate America and the Constitution -_-" Seriously, what the hell are these people on??) And guess who started those rumors? Turns out to be the very same Fox anchor from above ^, Gretchen Carlson-- the one with the ludicrous claims. Turns out those claims weren't even the crazy ones... And like a true Fox-er, she didn't bother to say anything when someone proved that she was wrong.

From Politifact.org -
Addressing Jason Moore, a Texas parent who planned to speak at Wednesday's hearing, Carlson said: "So, one of the proposed changes, Jason, is actually to start history class in the year 1877, which would be a big problem for a lot of people, would it not? And eliminate references to certain holidays, Founding Fathers, the Constitution! I mean, no surprise that Christmas, they want to get rid of that because they've been doing that for the last couple of years, but c'mon, the Constitution?"

Which brings us to today's moral - it's not technically a lie if you really believe it's true when you say it, but if you're going to stick with your story when you're proven to be wrong... (Speaking of which, great news - a lot of alarm bells can go away now, we finally have evidence that it was a huge misunderstanding that wasn't immediately rectified... If you don't know what I'm talking about, good for you.)

Alright, I'm sure if you're still reading you really must be bored today... (I was. I'm sure I've infected enough people today, so spent the rest of the day in my room alone, writing and playing video games... I have yet to see a doctor, but I know I have strep -_-" Ugh. There are some things sisters should never share, and an infection is certainly one of them.)

(All cartoons copyright of their respective artist and/or publication. I'm just using them here for "educational purposes," under Fair Use law or whatever it's called ^^")

The Ocean of Red Ink...

Most interesting line I've seen today - "We're just drowning in an ocean of red ink."

I don't know why I found the latest Michael Moore film to be so inspiring. His movies are generally one-sided and predictable, but very much true and compelling, and the latest is no exception. Maybe it's just because he believes in and fights for the same things I want.

The bailouts (referring to Bush's 2008 bailouts orchestrated by the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008," pre-Obama Presidency. Both Obama and McCain wanted the plans to include getting that money back. There's been recent talk of it. Let's hope that happens.) I think to some extent certain ones may have been necessary at the time, if only to counter the domino effect all over the world we saw when American banks began to fail and/or prevent the situation from becoming a full-blown depression. Anything more than that... well, if you're going to play by "free-market rules," have fun with the crash and burn. Unfortunately, those idiots at the banks/car companies/etc. dragged the rest of the country, and the world, down with them. I remember sitting in Contemporary Social Problems with my Blackberry, reading the news headlines to my professor. We were discussing the domino effect, and how the banks got us into the situation to begin with. Someone had said to me that it was all because of the people who had gotten themselves into loans and mortgages they couldn't afford. My response? Who got them into those loans in the first place? Who convinced them to sign up for things they didn't need and tricked others into falling into the trap? Who signed them up for a loan and upped fees and interest rates after it was too late to get out? That's how banks operate! That's how they make their money! By putting people in debt. That's why the credit card business is so lucrative, why Wall Street is so successful. Stepping on the little people to get what you want, no matter what it takes. The banks, the corporations - they do it to themselves. Corporate greed is a nasty piece of work. If we could do away with capitalism entirely, I'm all for it, because basic trade has been twisted and dehumanized and contorted into the exploitative, profit-driven mess that is dragging this country and the world's economy down. Yet the media, run by corporate America, will continue to spout its lies; and the corrupt in our Congress will continue to accept their bribes and cater to the collective will of the corporate elite, while the rest of us "Main streeters" suffer at their hands.

I've been reading around in forums again, non-partisan and such for the most part, to see what others are saying. It seems there is a growing Independent base who feel a lot of people are being ridiculous in their demands about government spending, especially regarding healthcare reform - low taxes, no spending that raises the deficit, but the government can't cut spending anywhere else. So where the hell do they expect the money to come from then? Let's run over to our "evil communist friend" and beg for more money! No, that's not an option? China has already loaned us over $1Trillion and of course we're still in debt. What the fucking hell do you expect the world to do? Unless the banks give back the bailout money (WHICH THEY SHOULD! It should be a loan, not a gift!) and corporations stop outsourcing, there will always be more money going out than coming in, and more of it in the hands of the wealthy than middle and lower-class America.

I'm honestly starting to wonder if it's in our best interests for the economy to completely collapse. Start from scratch, tear down corporate America and go back to small business. Over the past 20 years especially, we've seen the government deregulate and . What more proof do we need that government regulation is necessary? It's weird saying this, as a socialist/anarchist (in terms of idealism; and leaning towards progressive democratic socialist in terms of realism), but it's why the government exists. To protect our rights, to ensure our livelihood in a society where "Might is Right" in every sense of the phrase. We are a society motivated by greed, founded by institutionalized inequality/racism/sexism/classism, disregard for other cultures and existing systems of natural governance, disregard for nature, and an unwarranted sense of moral superiority. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need government, laws, checks and balances... because the things that keep us down wouldn't exist. What else can we do to make this world better, working with what we have? What if Jefferson's idea of America had been the path taken, instead of Hamilton? Would we been in this mess right now? Would so many be homeless, destitute, etc, if our country were based on agriculture instead of industry and profit? I know all too well that it's pointless to wonder what could have been, and that we're better off working for what could be. When possible, I would rather do something than do nothing at all. Problems don't go away by ignoring them, they get bigger.

Hope for change means nothing without OUR action. We can't rely on other people to do things for us without chipping in.