Old Hippie Chic's Rants

Plan "B"... Well, if your new year's resolve is to go on the Atkin's diet and lose weight with ephedra, it's time for plan "B" since mad cows are reeking their revenge (can lobster be substituted for prime rib??) and exercising with metabolife (?) can stop your heart dead still or lead to stroke city ~!

MY 'resolution' is to finally quit smoking, totally and permanently -- and so far, into the 4th day now, so good -- altho my 'puter doesn't seem to want to work without a little cloud of gray haze (smoke) powering it, and my attitude is worse than a 3-legged junk yard dog (she chewed one leg off gettin' outta that bear trap) on a steady diet of rats and gun powder for 72 hours ~! Truth be told, i have sneaked a few "snipes", well hidden away for "emergencies", good for one or two puffs at most. Amazingly, with the herb tea brewed up, based on the well-televised and expensive "smoke away" program (oatstraw, burdock root, chamomile, et al), i've had NO real cravings -- just a really nastier than usual attitude ~!

Of course, the fact that i've been literally under house arrest now for over five weeks w/ a mentally retarded kid whose dog went into her first heat yesterday (before i could get her to vet for spay job), it's been too cold and windy to go outside and play in the dirt (to get ready for spring planting), what i had high hopes for in the way of "romance" back in october took a nose dive, crashed and burned (lesson learned: don't EVER tell a man you don't "need" him, even if it's the truth -- and i'll never "need" anyone so long as most of my parts move on command -- but their egos are too fragile to handle this) and i'm a good deal broker than i should be since my car turned into a black hole for coin of the real and STILL keeps stalling out, hasn't contributed to my normally sunny attitude one bit ~! (Hemmingway, eat your heart out -- how's THIS for a "run-on" sentence )

I've ridden horses -- cow ponies -- who, when it was time to leave off working cattle and head for the barn, would take the danged bit between their teeth and literally FLY through the mesquite to get "home". This, after a full day of hard work, cutting calves, or moving a herd, hot, dusty, little or no water, and you'd think both rider and steed would be totally pooped out -- but the horsie would find an amazing burst of energy and it would be full speed ahead until the paddock was in sight. Well, my lil '87 mazda is like that -- she'll run 65 mph, NON-stop to get into the garage, and then won't LEAVE it -- or if she does, she stalls out, unexpectedly and at the most inopportune times (like there's any GOOD place for your car to stall out ~!). Neither the car gods NOR the money gods seem to be in good humor at the close of 2003 -- but here's hopin' things improve with a new calendar ~! Blessings for the New Year to all.

A Line in the Sand... According to JAMA doctors (drug companies really) are the #2 cause of death in the U.S. I've always felt a person had both a right and a duty to do most (if not ALL) of their thinking for themselves -- this led me to diddling wih law school, standing undefeated in my "court" (J.P. court) career -- 3 cases, 3 wins, AND studying up quite a bit on wholistic health, nutrition, physiology-anatomy and homeopathy. Seems to work for me -- I haven't "needed" a doctor for anything since childbirth, over 21 years ago.

Now this is NOT to say we should "be" our own attorney or physician (and have a fool for a client/patient), but rather we CAN arm ourselves so that we don't require their services very often. The present status of health care in amerika makes my point -- that we should inform ourselves on what "works" to maintain health, because docs sure don't know anything except what the druggies (Rx manufacturers) tell them ~!

A major battle over the direction that medicine would travel was fought in the early 1900s in the United States between the pharmaceutical industry and homeopathy. This fight ended in complete victory for the pharmaceutical industry aided by the financial clout of Rockefeller interests. Since that time drug companies have influenced the curriculums taught in medical schools, controlled the content of most medical meetings, and have major input into what topics are not permitted in medical journals (articles about successful use of natural therapies that could replace drugs usually will not get published). Programs that will develop large profits for drug and agricultural firms are approved without serious study and the public suffers (GMO foods, irradiation of foods, vaccines released without safety testing, placing fluoride in water supplies, using growth hormone to increase cow milk production, injecting cattle with hormones, continuing use of mercury amalgams, recycling nuclear wastes, metals and toxic substances as "fertilizer", etc.)

An example of the stranglehold that the goverment/FDA/big-drugs cartel has over medicine is provided by our attempt to sell red yeast. Red yeast is used to prepare Peking duck. This yeast contains many statins that lower cholesterol. The pharmaceutical companies have taken advantage of this by isolating single statins from the yeast that they are able to patent (Mevacor, Lipitor, Xocor etc.). Red yeast is safer and much cheaper than the statin drugs. When one doctor called to order red yeast from Nature's Distributors in Fountain Hills, Arizona the sales person advised me that they could not sell red yeast to us because the FDA had called them and told them to stop selling red yeast. The FDA gave them no reason for this action but it is obvious that red yeast was hurting the statin sales of large drug companies.

A group of concerned physicians has filed a petition with the FDA to require pharmaceutical companies to place a package insert advising the buyer that statin drugs cause depletion of the critical nutrient CoQ 10 from the body. CoQ 10 deficiency appears to cause a rare patient on statins to experience muscle breakdown, lactic acidosis, kidney failure and death. The lack of CoQ 10 in heart muscle also probably is responsible for the rising incidence of heart failure in the U.S. The package insert would recommend that persons taking statins should take 100 to 200 mg. of CoQ 10 daily to prevent these problems. Obviously the drug companies oppose this package insert because it implies that statin drugs re not entirely safe which is, of course, the truth.

from an article at NewsWithViews.com, by Dr. James A. Howenstine is a board certified specialist in internal medicine who spent 34 years caring for office and hospital patients. Curiosity sparked a 4 year study of natural health products when 5 of his
patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis were able to discontinue the use of methotrexate (chemotherapy agent) after trying an extract of New Zealand mussels for the therapy of severe rheumatoid arthritis.

Be well and prosper -- if you can, but always THINK FOR YOURSELF ~!

Urband Legend?? After reading yesterday's blog, a friend pointed out the data on social security needed to be verified -- that he found it suspect. And, it HAS circulated before on the net but who knows? I'm flogging myself to re-build my website, not taking time to go search 'urban legends', and besides, i hold any group suspect who can vote themselves raises (that would be our U.S. Congress) yet eschew "unions" ~!

Some good nooze: Remember I promised to have something 'good' to share here, once weekly? well, here tiz: At http://www.thepetitionsite.com, they have dozens of petitions where a cyber-activist can "take action" in just a few seconds, remain "anonymous" if they desire, express themselves, all with the click of a mouse. Now presuming (they taught me not to assume anything in law school since that makes an a## out of 'u' and 'me' both) that site isn't being run by the C.I.A. OR 'homeland security' to name names, it warms the heart of a cynical old gal like me.

What's more, they keep a "poll" of upcoming presidential support. To date, H. Dean has 522, Bush has less than half with 252 but of course, cyber polls are notoriously INaccurate in that they don't reflect a "real" cross-section of the populous. But I find that margin encouraging ~! Most all the petitions at the aforementioned site support animal and environmental rights, services for the poor and under-served and supposedly get sent to the powers in 'charge' of our lives, e.g. the below.. Check it out.

WILDLIFE AND PESTICIDES DON'T MIX!
Since taking office, the Bush administration has steadily chipped away at the Endangered Species Act.

Now, the administration wants to weaken the laws governing the use of pesticides that would allow companies to use dangerous chemicals without ensuring endangered wildlife will be protected. The pesticide industry has sought this change for many years. Their goal? Avoid protections for endangered wildlife, freeing them up to do what they will with their chemicals. It is widely known that pesticides can kill or harm wildlife, including species on the brink of extinction.

You can help stop this dangerous new policy and protect our country's endangered wildlife. Sign this petition below and send a FREE message to the agency's leaders and tell them to reject the pesticide industry's attempt to weaken wildlife protection laws.http://www.thepetitionsite.com/

Social INsecurity ? Going broke??? We hear alarming (to those of us amerikans approaching retirement age) comment every so often that Social Security, the 'trust fund', is being depleted. However, according to SS Admin Web site, the Social Security Trust earned over 80 Billion dollars in interest last year...hmmm where did that money go?

But there is are slight inequities in this deal -- for U.S. congresspeople, Social Security is not just a golden parachute -- it's a whole fleet of Golden Lear jets ~!!!! Let us try to fix this problem and put our congressmen on the same plan!!! This is very interesting and something that even those of us not collecting now should look at seriously.....

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the federal government to put away doesn't it make better sense that the guv mint should have been paying US INTEREST on all that money they took FROM our paychecks instead of taxing it once they RETURN it to us????

And, you may be interested in the following: Immigrants moved into this country and at 65 got Social Security. The Government gave that to them although they never paid a dime into it.

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years. Our Senators and Congress men and women do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it. You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan.

In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan. For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die, except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments. For example, former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand Dollars), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives. This is calculated on an average life span for each. Their cost for this excellent plan is $00.00. Nada! Zilch! This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Funds, our tax dollars at work!

From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into-every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer) --we can expect to get an average $1,000 per month after retirement. Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000. monthly benefits for 68 years and one (1) month to equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits!

Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made. That change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us . then sit back and watch how fast they would fix it. If enough people see this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and
maybe good changes will evolve.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON To Help Make This A 2004 ELECTION ISSUE
This must be an issue in 04! Please! Keep it going. How many people can YOU send this to?

Mad cows, mudslides and Michael Jackson... In my best molly ivensesque-way, i'm gonna pontificate today. One big difference being, SHE gets the big bucks for doing this stuff ~! About those poor cows, have you ever looked into the big, brown eyes of a tame bovine? I have -- my granny kept a small dairy herd, and at barely 5 ft. tall, she managed twice-daily HAND milkings. For the most part, cows are placid, gentle and intelligent folk -- and i can't bear to look at film of them, trying bravely to walk when their hindquarters are falling out from under them. Too heart-breaking.

Sure, it's sad, too, for two-leggeds to come down w/ a version of "mad cow disease", but then karma IS a bitch when it comes back around to bite you in the buttocks ~! I can say this, smugly, since I gave up eating red meat almost 40 years ago, with RARE (no pun intended) exceptions -- partly due to knowledge of just how badly cattle are treated in slaughter houses. Personal decision tho - you eat all the steak you can choke down.

Then, there's those mudslides in Calif. Well, DUH ~! Burn (or clear-cut) the trees off the hillsides, get a good rain and what else can you expect??? Sorta like rich fo'k who build expensive homes in flood plains or near the ocean (for the view, of course), and then want federal flood insurance (that would be with OUR tax monies) to reimburse them when hurricanes &/or high water makes toothpicks outta "their" real estate.

My first (and only) year in law school was ruined in real property class when a bolt outta the blue hit me square between the eyes -- the 'knowingness' that we can't really "own" land -- because we can't MAKE it -- only Great Spirit can "make" real estate. All we can do is live on it, take care of it, abuse it, or use it wisely and then be returned to it. You might say I have a more "earthy" perspective than good christians, who presume a much greater divide between their body parts and their spirit.

Lastly, I think Michael Jackson did it ~! My money is on the dim-witted (appearing) prosecutor. Fame, fortune and fatherhood are not defenses. After all, the great preponderance of child molestors are straight, NOT
gay ~! Nor is religion a defense. I had first-hand experience with a Morman man, Milton Fletcher, who molested a little girl in the 4th grade. Her mom was a 'warrior-woman', too, took the guy to court, her case was THIRD in line behind two others, but the church elders supported this jerk -- who wanted to get married so he could have "more babies" -- to molest at home, no doubt ~! Just tell me when the verdict is in, though -- and quit clogging the airwaves with "where's Jackson". Even if it turns out the guy is innocent, he's goofy -- i mean the guy gets his mail in fantasyland (Neverland) and is guilty of snarky behaviour -- it is NOT appropriate for grown men to be sharing their bed with unrelated children ~!

Are we "thrivin'" yet??? I promise I'll cut this out (just one last time) but this was / is just too much not to make note of... the 'xmas' stocking stuffer Bushie & crew gave to their friends, per the below. And all I got was another hole in an old sock where the lump of coal would fall through ~!

Corporate Accountability

A market economy prospers when the gains from productivity and growth fuel a thriving middle class, limiting the extremes of both poverty and entrenched wealth. When honest companies are not at a competitive disadvantage to dishonest ones. When investors can trust the numbers that corporations report and can rely on the vigilance of independent accountants, investment advisors, and corporate boards. When consumers can depend on the government to outlaw price-fixing, inspect our food, test our drugs, and protect our water and air. And when workers can trust that their pensions and workplaces will be kept safe.

The Latest

End of Year Spending Bill
The House passed an $820 billon end of the year spending bill which contains many goodies for republican supporters. Click here to check out MoveOn's latest full page ad exposing this years corporate Christmas presents. Click here for a fact sheet on spending in the bill.

The Bermuda Project
As the nation comes together in these difficult times of war and economic hardship, some wealthy individuals and corporations are shamelessly abandoning America in favor of tropical island tax dodges. These cheats take full advantage of the U.S., but set up phony operations in Bermuda and elsewhere to avoid paying their fair share. Protected by big money lobbyists and their friends in the Republican leadership - these anti-patriots bilk the government out of over $70 billion a year. Learn more about the campaign to stop them. » more

Corporate Accountability: Get the Straight Talk
Enron was the largest bankruptcy in US history. Twenty-nine executives walked off with over a billion dollars, while workers watched their savings disappear. The Enron scandals have revealed a corrosive culture of corruption which rewards corporate rule breakers, compromised accountants and conflicted investment advisors while punishing workers and small investors. » more

A Neo-Conservative... I'm conservative -- VERY conservative -- really, i yam ~! My home, land and car are all paid for, the home and car are both old -- very old -- but debt-free. The house was built, in part, in the 1920's, an old ranch house, and moved and added onto in the 1950's. The car is a 1987 Mazda with over 150,000 miles on her. The land, well, it's VERY old -- appeared when the Permian Sea dried out.

I don't believe in living on credit, and i DO believe in paying (cash) for what is purchased -- perhaps UN-amerikan, but with very little money, a tight budget works for me. I don't believe in "give-away" programs for the poor, having worked in a high-school dropout program that achieved little to build character or lives. But, by the same token, I don't believe in "give-away" programs for the rich, either, and the present occupier of the nation's white house is notorious for doing JUST that ~!

It's a give-away program when he quietly reverses himself privately on what he says publically -- when laws, rules and regulations enacted to keep our air and water pure, or at least relatively 'safe' are scrapped and polluting industries are "grandfathered" in under the wire to keep polluting. I'm a conservative in that I feel a free exchange of information and an enlightened, informed, and educated citizenry is essential for a free republic (that would be our country, the U.S. of A.) and I find it offensive that high school seniors can't read beyond an 8th grade level, have a 3rd rate, monosyllabic vocabulary and ALL the "nooze" channels parrot the same stories, ad nauseum, with never a questioning glance beyond the canned pablum.

It's not "liberal" to think access to government should be equally distributed amongst ALL the citizenry, not something held in reserve for those who can sit down to $1-2,000.00 plate dinners or make huge campaign contributions. And I do find it ironic that a man is out raising millions of dollars to try and get elected (this time -- he was appointed by the Supremes his first four years) to a job that pays less than $500,000.00 a year -- why?

THANKFULLY, mine is not a lone voice in the wilderness -- as I'd long suspected ~! For a more in-depth, AND "fair and balanced" look at the status quo , and maybe even some idears on what we MIGHT do, if enough of us get "involved" to take back our country and have a decent future for our grandchildren, check out www.ourfuture.org. It's not ax-grinding to look at Bushie's record, along with that of his rubber-stamping Republican congress... But it is time for a major wake-up call. (Just call me Pauline Revere ~!)

Merrie Xmas all and ho, ho, ho. Harumph ~! Since there only the two of us, rest of my 'family' is pushing up daisies, and the kid is on a l,500 calorie/day 'diet', we won't be pigging out OR 'socializing'. Hard for me to get IN the 'xmas' spirit -- IF we lived closer than 75 miles, one way, to a soup kitchen, i'd probably go serve, just to be around more people ~!

and...

Take Back America Campaign | www.ourfuture.org

Kitchen Table Concerns? Republican Congress Made Them Worse

The 2002 elections ended with one party in control of the White House, the Senate and Congress. How are they doing? Perhaps best measure is what they have done on the basic concerns that Americans worry about at their kitchen tables late at night.

Below is a brief Kitchen Table report on the past year. Read this report online, or take a look at the end-of-year Hardship Index.

Wages

Hourly wages continued to fall this year. [1]	Meanwhile, back in Washington...
	The Bush White House and the Republican leadership in Congress would not even allow a vote on a measure to raise the minimum wage (which has lost 40% of its value since 1968). [2] Bush also forced through regulations that will strip 8 million workers of the right to overtime, despite majority opposition in both Houses of Congress. [3]

Guess the upside of this is that, as money becomes tighter for not just the po' fo'k (that would be ME and mine), but our ranks swell with that huge, downward crush of middle-classed swelling our ranks -- i'll just add more H2O to the soup so we all get fed -- is that we'll all come to value things less and important stuff more -- like good friends, good health, sleeping warm and dry and with a full belly -- blessings, all.

Death & Taxes, "W" style....Now about those tax cuts... with all the good will and good cheer just a night before xmas, and larger concerns, like the 'code orange' alert AGAIN, why should anyone be bothered w/ W's tax cuts for the rich -- well, it's the REAL impact they'll have on most (98.6 of us) that bothers me. Besides, as W urges us to "look at his record", this is something to stick in the back of your mind.

Partly (mostly) because i'm 'poor', living far BELOW the official poverty level, i RESENT THE HELL outta cutting taxes for the wealthy. Maybe if i'd inherited a few $Mil, i'd look at it differently. But i didn't, and i don't. One very important question that probably won't be asked publically of bushie is WHY would a guy who stands to inherit a fortune support repealing the estate tax? No, this is NOT a trick question.

In his shameless quest to toady up to the idle rich, bushie proposed repealing the ONE and only tax that is paid solely and exclusively by millionaires -- and ONLY on income they did NADA to earn, on wealth they did nothing to generate. The estate tax is ONLY charged to the wealthiest l.4 % of all estates. So, 98.6% of us don't have to trouble our little heads about that dreaded combo of death and taxes.

In fact, 2/3 of revenue from the estate tx comes from just 0.2% of estates. But bushie wants to abolish the millionaire's inheritance tax entirely, feeding us bull about how repeal of the estate tax will allow "family farms" (sic) to be passed down from generation to generation.

Of course, what they omit from this argument is the fact that 95% of farms aren't covered by the estate tax, since you don't pay a dime of this tax until the estate is worth upward of $1.3 million per couple, soon to go up to $2 mil per couple if it hasn't already. Truth be told, 99.5% of "estate tax" comes from non-farm millionaires, but bushie has done much to "level the playing field", letting guys earning minimum wage pay the same rate or actual percentage as the rich guys pay in taxes.

It takes a lotta gall for a guy who may one day inherit a family fortune campaign for the repeal of estate tax, but then bushie has always made up in brass what he lacks in brains.

Many presidents have had problems with truth-telling. Lyndon Johnson was said, politely, to have suffered a "credibility gap" when it came to Vietnam. Richard Nixon, during Watergate, was reduced to protesting, "I am not a crook." Bill Clinton was relentlessly accused by both adversaries and allies of reversing solemn commitments, not to mention his sexual dissembling.

But George W. Bush is in a class by himself when it comes to prevarication. It is no exaggeration to say that lying has become Bush's signature as president.

The pattern is now well established. Soothing rhetoric -- about compassionate (sic) conservatism, about how much money the "average" American worker will get through the White House tax program, about prescription-drug benefits -- is simply at odds with what Bush's policies actually do. Last month Bush promised to enhance Medicaid; his actual policy would effectively end it as a federal entitlement program.

More distressing even than the president's lies, though, is the public's apparent passivity. Bush just seems to get away with it. The post-September 11 effect and the Iraq war distract attention, but there's more to it. Are we finally paying the price for three decades of steadily eroding democracy? Is Bush benefiting from the echo chamber of a right-wing press that repeats the White House line until it starts sounding like the truth? Or does the complicity of the press help to lull the public and reinforce the president's lies?

Along with tax cuts, education was Bush's top priority when he entered the White House. He charmed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in an effort to get his bill passed, a bill that combined greater accountability and testing with increased funding. Then, in what has become a trademark, he pulled the plug on the funding.

The man simply has no shame. His program does none of this. What it does, simply, is to make dramatic cuts in the benefits for both the poor and the elderly.

Actually, the Clear Skies law doesn't do any of this. The act, in fact, delays required emission cuts by as much as 10 years, usurps the states' power to address interstate pollution problems and allows outdated industrial facilities to skirt costly pollution-control upgrades. The Environmental Protection Agency ensured that few people would notice this last regulation by announcing the change on the Friday before Thanksgiving and publishing it in the Federal Register on New Year's Eve.

Hypocrisy has been defined as the tribute that vice pays to virtue. George W. Bush lied about all these policies because the programs he pretends to favor are far more popular than the ones he puts into effect. But unless the voters and the press start paying attention, all the president's lies will have little political consequence -- except to certify that we have become something less than a democracy. I couldn't have said it better than Drake Bennett and Heidi Pauken

For the complete story, excerpted here, and numbers to back it up, go to: http://www.prospect.org/issue_pages/bushlies.html

Buhsie on Budgets... I'm a Texan -- and the part of me that isn't Choctaw is Scottish -- and living on social security disability, i keep a pretty tight rein on finances and run a budget that doesn't go OVER our $580.00 per month. "W" has never HAD to live on a budget, although he drilled only dry holes in his Texas "oil" bidiness, failed as a baseball exec and then walked away with a fortune so vast that it's unlikely his kids will ever have to work for a living. (Just his $606,000 investment in the Texas Rangers ball team netted him a return of $l4.9 million).

When "W" became our guv'nor (and Texas governors don't DO much -- just ribbon-cutting and speech-making -- they aren't turned loose with much power, decision-making projects or even budgetary duties -- the Lt. Guv. holds the REAL power), Texas had the largest budet surplus in the state's history -- and at his disposal, which he promptly set about disposing -- in 1999 there was $6.4 Billion (with a "B") for him to get rid of.

Right outta the chute, "W" rammed through a massive $1.6 Billion tax cut. When concerns were raised about whether the state could afford such a huge tax cut at the same time the cost of Medicaid, prisons and other vital service needs were rising, Bush's fellow Republican, the comptroller of public accounts, increased her budget estimate by $807 million in the closing weeks of the legislative session. The tax cut passed, "W" got the hell outta Dodge and started his campaign for president.

Then, in Jan 2000 (ancient history, i know), warning signs appeared. The Texas Dept. of Health send Bushie a memo warning about a potential budget shortfall. Bush's office said this was "nothing to worry about" as it was "very, very preliminary" -- well, half right -- it was preliminary -- but we're still worrying about it, almost four years later. "W" had bigger concerns than if he'd blown the budget back home. By the summer of 2000, Texas was in a full-blown fiscal mess. Nearly 90% of that $6.4 Billion budget surplus is now gone, leaving only about $650 million between the Lone Star State and a budet deficit -- the first time in nine years that our state has faced a budget pinch.

Bigger fish to fry awaited him inside the beltway, where Clinton had vacated the premises, leaving the nation with more than a $211 Billion surplus and could have erradicated the entire national debt in just another 12 years, had we stayed on track (tracks laid down by Clinton-Gore).

Bush junior, seems to want to out-do his ole' dad, who left office with 7.1% unemployment (down to 4% under Clinton), a poverty rate of l5.l% (down to 12.7%/Clinton), and a Dow Jones average of 3,242 (which soared to 11,000 under Clinton). Bush I racked up a record federal deficit of $290 Billion compared to Clinton's surplus noted above. The national debt had climbed from just $1 Trillion (accumulated from all presidents, G. Washington through J. Carter) to $4 Trillion (quadrupling under the 12 years of Reagan and Bush, Sr).

For more details, see the book, "Is Our Children Learning? -- the case against (prezident) George W. Bush" by Paul Begala, written before the 2000 UN-election, but still good food for thought, especially in light of Bush II's MIS-management of the nation's budget -- that would be my and YOUR children's legacy well into the year 2050.

I love my country... as the kid in the first grade whose little heart swelled up at the sight of the American flag waving over the schoolyard. But i hated Nam and what it did to my family and 100's of men my age, and i hate the Iraq mess -- and i almost loathe the misleader (dictator) in chief. And, i'm saddened by the public "support" (real or fabricated by the media) for George Bush. I wasn't gonna post here again today, but this is too important to sit on -- from Michael Moore about our troops:

"Who are these troops? They are our poor, our working class. Most of them enlisted because it was about the only place to get a job or receive the guarantee of a college education. You, my good friends, have ALWAYS, through your good works, your contributions, your activism, your votes, SUPPORTED these very kids who come from the other side of the tracks. You NEVER need to be defensive when it comes to your "support" for the "troops" -- you are the only ones who have ALWAYS been there for them.

Tort reform... may well be needed in this country but it could start with protection of workers, workplace conditions, and 'reform' of our health care delivery system so docs wouldn't NEED high-priced malpractice insurance. For 13 years, i worked as a medical paralegal (time 'nuf in law school to practice w/out a license and masters degree in public health) on the defense side and saw a LOT of ambulance-chasing lawyers raking in settlement monies on spurious suits, unfounded claims and acts of God.

Even so, a free people are only 'free' when they have recourse to the courts. If bushie gets his way, ALL big corporations will be absolved of litigation and thus free to do as THEY please ~! Not a good thing. See:

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Newsweek Article on Lawsuits Is Fatally Flawed, Full of Falsehoods and Exaggerations
Public Citizen Asks Newsweek to Review Its Standards

In a much-touted Dec. 15 cover story entitled "Lawsuit Hell," Newsweek published a one-sided diatribe masquerading as journalism. In what purported to be an in-depth look at what business interests have erroneously labeled a "litigation crisis," the magazine went well beyond advocacy journalism to launch an unprecedented crusade against consumers' access to the courts, according to an 11-page critique Public Citizen released today. Not content to simply run a highly questionable
article, Newsweek partnered with NBC for a week of broadcast tie-ins and online chats.

Newsweek fell for myths and distortions spread by a well-organized campaign funded by big business to strip consumers - but not businesses - of their legal rights. Because of the article's glaring deficiencies, Public Citizen today sent a letter to the magazine calling on the editors to review journalistic standards. The article includes:

- Many false and exaggerated examples to present an unbalanced and negative caricature of the legal system;
- Major factual inaccuracies about the legal system and lawsuits; and
- Proposed solutions that have no basis in experience.

Many of the examples Newsweek used were wild exaggerations or anecdotes that never involved lawsuits to begin with, and Public Citizen provides a detailed critique of them. Many of the "facts" cited in the article have been debunked by independent sources such as the General Accounting Office and the Congressional Budget Office.

The article's lead author, Stuart Taylor Jr., is a former corporate attorney who admitted to Newsday that his writings are primarily commentary. Further, when writing the Newsweek piece, Taylor relied heavily on a book by corporate defense lawyer Philip K. Howard, adopting many of Howard's faulty arguments. A copy of Public Citizen's critique and letter to Newsweek are available at http://www.citizen.org/congress/civjus/tort/media/. For more information about the legal system, visit http://www.citizen.org/congress/civjus/articles.cfm?ID=7545.

From: THE DAILY MIS-LEAD
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1342965&l=12634

WHITE HOUSE COVERS TRACKS BY REMOVING INFORMATION

In a high-tech cover-up, the Washington Post this morning reports the White House is actively scrubbing government websites clean of any of its own previous statements that have now proven to be untrue. Specifically, on April 23, 2003, the president sent his top international aid official on national television to reassure the public that the cost of war and reconstruction in Iraq would be modest. USAID Director Andrew Natsios, echoing other Administration officials, told Nightline that, "In terms of
the American taxpayers contribution, [$1.7 billion] is it for the US. The American part of this will be $1.7 billion. We have no plans for any further-on funding for this." (Can someone plez explain how we got from ONE point seven bil to 87 bil???)

The president has requested more than $166 billion in funding for the war and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan this year. But instead of admitting that he misled the nation about the cost of war, the president has allowed the State Department "to purge the comments by Natsios from the State Department's Web site. The transcript, and links to it, have
vanished." (The link where the transcript existed until it caused embarrassment was www.usaid.gov/iraq/nightline_042403_t.html).

Guess bushie isn't really lying if he just doesn't "reveal" the truth???? This story is not the first time the President has tried to hide critical information from the American public. For instance, the president opposed the creation of the independent 9/11 investigative commission, and has refused to provide the commission with critical information, even under threat of subpoena. Similarly, after making substantial budget cuts, the president ordered the government to stop publishing its regular report detailing those cuts to states. And when confronted with a continuing unemployment crisis, the president ordered the Department of Labor to stop publishing its regular mass layoff report.

GRAND Theft America... CLICK HERE: http://www.ericblumrich.com/gta.html
***(Less than 3 minutes of superb animation, sound, color and TRUTHFUL info.... I saw, replayed and ABSORBED the IMPACT...3 times (SMILE))))

Be happy, don't sneeze... Now, while i'm something of a "medicine woman", I'm NOT brash (or foolish) enough to call myself that, aloud -- but i do know my stuff (herbs / homeopathy) and can't help myself, at times, from trying to exert a 'healing influence'. The following was too good not to share.

I find that daily Qigong makes most "colds" have a maximum duration of 3-4 hours, as this practice enhances immunity, raises the 'happy' juices and annihilates stress, so probably something to being happ = wellness.

***Be Happy---To Avoid COMMON COLD

Click here: New Study Shows Happiness Fights the Common Cold
http://www.gvnr.com/76/1.htm

New Study Shows Happiness Fights the Common Cold
USA - Don't worry, be happy and, according to new research, you will also be healthy. It is estimated that over the course of one year, Americans suffer 1 billion colds. But new research shows that all it may take to avoid this common affliction is a positive and upbeat attitude. People who are energetic, happy and relaxed are less likely to catch a cold than those who are depressed, nervous or angry, finds a new study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
Healthy volunteers first underwent an emotional assessment in which they were asked to rate their tendency to experience positive and negative emotions — how often they felt pleased, relaxed, happy, or anxious, depressed and hostile. The subjects were next given a squirt up the nose of a rhinovirus, the nasty little germ that causes colds. Researchers then watched the volunteers to see who came down with a cold and waited to see how the unlucky ill manifested their cold symptoms.

"We found that people who regularly experience positive emotions, when exposed to rhinovirus, are relatively protected from developing illness," said Dr. Sheldon Cohen, lead author of the study and a psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Although positive people showed a greater resistance to colds, negative people did not necessarily get sick more often. Increases in positive emotional styles were linked with decreases in the rate of clinical colds, but a negative emotional style had no effect on whether or not people got sick," Cohen said.

So how can your emotions influence your health? In simple terms, when the brain is "happy" it sends messages to our organs that help keep the body healthy and sound.

"It's like a drug that is released by your state of mind and simply changing the state of mind can produce effects on the rest of the body through the nervous system and hormones," said Dr. Neil Shulman, associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and author of Doc Hollywood. "Your chance of developing the common cold, pneumonia, or even cancer may very well be decreased by keeping your brain in a healthy state."

In addition, happy and relaxed people are prone to better health practices than their negative and stressed counterparts. They are more likely to get plenty of sleep and to engage in regular exercise, and have been shown to have lower levels of certain stress hormones. And not only do happy people get sick less often, but they suffer less when they do fall ill. Among the test subjects who developed colds, those with a negative emotional style were more likely to complain about their sniffles and scratchy throat than were those with a positive emotional style, said Cohen. Shulman says the study shows there are some simple things you can do to improve your chances of staying healthy. "The take-home message is that we have very healthy ways that we can improve our overall well-being that don't cost money and that don't require a wait in the doctor's office," he said.

By Jamie Cohe / www.ABCNEWS.com

Remember when... ? Remember when we studied "guv mint" in school and they talked about government BY and FOR the people? Made your lil heart swell with pride, didn't it? Well, the "people" part got lost somewhere, it seems, in the flow of money crossing palms inside the beltway. But if you support "democracy NOW" check out the website by that name, noted below:

Democracy Now! has always been a shining star in the often flaky alternative media universe. The New York-based radio and television show, which is now on over 140 stations in North America, has become the flagship for a new distribution model for progressive media outlets. You can find Democracy Now! on Pacifica, community, and National Public Radio stations, public access cable television stations, satellite television (on Free Speech TV, channel 9415 of the DISH Network), shortwave radio and on their web site, Democracynow.org. While this achievement is in no small part a result of the dedication of a talented group of producers, editors, volunteers and contributors, the driving force behind the show is this week's guerrilla, the indefatigable Amy Goodman.

As the co-host (with Juan Gonzalez) of the expanded two-hour version of the show's War and Peace Report, Goodman has recently been at the top of her game, offering listeners some of the most insightful coverage of the so-called War on Terror around.

In the age of O'Reilly and Limbaugh, Goodman is in some ways a throwback to the days of Edward R. Morrow, when radio was about giving it to you straight, without the bombast and buffoonery. She may not be the most thrilling broadcaster, but she knows her stuff, and most importantly, she lets people talk.

Democracy Now! is probably the most important broadcast news source in the country today. We urge all of our readers to listen to the show, and support it if you can.

Tongue in cheek...is better than foot in mouth. The following from Greg Palast . com -- review it and then reflect on what bushie is saying about bad-boy sadaam... and justify how come we (the US guv-mint) helped him so much over all these years... how come?

While having his hair styled by US military makeover artists, Saddam listed jobs completed at the request of his allies in the Carter, Reagan and Bush administrations for which he claims back wages:

1979: Seizes power with US approval; moves allegiance from Soviets to USA in Cold War.
1980: Invades Iran, then the "Unicycle of Evil," with US encouragement and arms.
1982: Reagan regime removes Saddam's regime from official US list of state sponsors of terrorism.
1983: Saddam hosts Donald Rumsfeld in Baghdad. Agrees to "go steady" with US corporate suppliers.
1984: US Commerce Department issues license for export of aflatoxin to Iraq useable in biological weapons.
1988: Kurds in Halabja, Iraq, gassed.
1987-88: US warships destroy Iranian oil platforms in Gulf and break Iranian blockade of Iraq shipping lanes, tipping war advantage back to Saddam.

In Baghdad today, the US-installed replacement for Saddam, Paul Bremer, appeared to acknowledge his predecessor Saddam's prior work for the US State Department when he told Iraqis, "For decades, you suffered at the hands of this cruel man. For decades, Saddam Hussein divided you and threatened an attack on your neighbors."

In reaction to the Bremer speech, Mr. Hussein said, "Do you think those decades of causing suffering, division and fear come cheap?" Noting that for half of that period, the suffering, division and threats were supported by Washington, Saddam added, "So where's the thanks? You'd think I'd at least get a gold watch or something for all those years on US payroll."

This will be my last post here til Sunday evening or Monday am, early -- taking a weekend 'off' (but really work -- to teach a Qigong class among other things) but this was too much NOT to include. From http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1342965&l=12021. I just don't think bushie has a CLUE what it is like to be a) unemployed (or maybe b) truly EMployed since all his "jobs" have been handed to him on a silver platter),
let alone "poor", homeless, or helpless.

President Bush has promoted and defended his tax cuts by saying that "when Americans have more money in their pocket to spend, to save or invest, the whole country benefits and someone is more likely to find a
job." But the president has apparently not applied this thinking to unemployment benefits, which are likely to be spent quickly as emergency funding for families without other income. The Republican Congress is
allowing unemployment benefits to expire over the holidays, even as the percentage of chronically unemployed is its highest in more than 10 years.

The president argued as a candidate and through his first year in office that, "it is compassionate to actively help our fellow citizens in need." But the president's unwillingness, for the second time in two years, to promote the extension seems to undermine that rhetoric.

Ultimately, the responsibility for passing the extension lies with the Republican Congress, whose leaders have argued that extension of benefits is unnecessary because of the improving economy. But new jobless claims unexpectedly went up last week, the highest level in six weeks.

The number of chronically unemployed is at an 11-year high, with over 2 million active job seekers out of work for 27 weeks or more -- more than 50 percent greater in October 2003 than in March 2002. The Center
for Budget and Policy Priorities The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that between 80,000 and 90,000 workers per week will lose access to benefits

The Great DIVIDER... G.W. Bush has a unique ability to polarize people -- seems they either adore or abhore than man, NO middle ground. But this does not bode well for our country ~! Divide an entity enough and you get psycho -- or at least schitzy (schizophrenic if not M.P.D. -- multiple personality disorder).

In "Time" magazine's Dec. 1 '03 issue, gives an in-depth look at bushie, starting with the cover (would you buy a used car from this guy?? -- NO doubt which camp my tent is pitched in). Still, in tribal teachings, we ARE "all one" -- we ARE all related. To my triple Libra self, my most basic instincts, right after survival, are harmony, justice, win-win compromises, fair play and cooperation.

Nonetheless, this guy galls me beyond belief and that hasn't been easy to do, since I don't like, or trust, most politicians to begin with -- they only "lie" when their lips are moving, which is most of the time.

Still, while bushie would like to be perceived as possessing moral clarity, certitude, piety (poo), a middle-class champion and hawkish on "security" (that of him and his friends), I see him as simpleminded, self-righteous, sanctimonious, a crony of big business and an outright warmonger and don't try to change MY mind ~! It won't happen ~!

Bushie, and most (all, really) of his supporters, is one who "knows what he thinks and couldn't give two hoots for what he DOESN'T "know". And there's a LOT he doesn't "know", comprehend or understand. He "knows" what his handlers in $l,000.00 suits TELL him and his fans "know" what he, in turn, tells them. And they don't need to know much else ~! Now THAT is scarey for a "free" society.

But, the same goes for most of the American public -- few have time or interest in bird-doggin' down the implications of bushie's tax cuts for the rich, his re-vamping (and eventual dismantling, i.e. privatization) of medicare and social security, let alone his practically invisible agenda to dismantle environmental regulation and worker protections.

So what will it take to bring us together, rather than deepen the divide? For a time, it looked like 9/ll would -- the Chinese character for "crisis" is the same as for "opportunity" -- but bushie played that hand badly. Both nationally and internationally, his policies set about renewing the split -- but then all he "needs" to really get elected to his first legal term in office is 51%.

I'd like to see the American people wake up and get fed up enough with this pawn-for-profit that he's sent packing, preferably to Kennebunkport (NOT back to Texas, thank you very much) and give someone with presumeably more integrity (Dr. Dean ?) at least a whopping 65% of the vote next year.

Flu Defense... Concerned about colds or worse, the FLU this winter? Then here's a tip: there are "altrnative defenses that may help: Two popular ones are oscillococcinum, a homeopathic flu remedy, and Sambucol, an herbal treatment made from elderberry extract.

Oscillococcinum is the number one over-the-counter flu medication in France, where it has been used for over 60 years. The medication, a dilute extract of duck liver and heart, comes in granule form. It's believed to indirectly stimulate the body's immune system and other defenses, according to pharmacist Christophe Merville, west coast branch manager of Boiron, a French manufacturer of homeopathic remedies. It costs around $6-7.00 for 3 doses, taken 6 hours apart; available online or in most health food stores (until the FDA bans it ~!). This from rense.com.

Europe and India use a LOT more homeopathic remedies than the U.S. does, and with quite good success. I've never had a flu shot and may NOT -- almost everyone I know who does get them also gets feeling bad for a few (several?) days after and since 'they' say the current vaccine isn't effective against one (some?) strain(s) going 'round this year, I won't be standing in line to be poked.

Well the Bushies are again after your overtime pay (you know the overtime we thought we had stopped them from appropriating just a short time ago?) and they are determined to further mortgaging your children's future in so many ways that I can not name them all. Bush's new spending bill is just full of 'pork' for some of the most unimaginable things. Just think your overtime, healthcare, retirement, your kids education, possibly your job(just wave goodbye as you watch it go to India or China or Mexico) to name just a few are dwindling fast but we have enough money to award pork to many strange projects like:

Once an oil man... always an oil 'man'. Of course, in bushie's case, he never drilled anything but dry holes and then jumped in behind them. He was noted for losing money and getting bailed out by his poppy, until the supremes appointed him to his current 'position'.

Of note, the great white shrub usedta be solidly against hyrdrogen fuel cells for automobiles until his folks came up with the Plan which is that all hydrogen cell research must be licensed to be in forms developed by and using the old oil companies and their systems... somehow not be a whole new industry and a whole new non-polluting system but rather tied into and controlled by the same pals of his that run the war etc...

HOWEVER, not all advances in hydrogen technology are waiting for the 'nod' from bushie & crew. Towit, Siemens' 100kW SOFC System Completes Testing. A Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation 100 kW SOFC unit has accumulated 16,612 hours of operation in Westervoort, the Netherlands. According to researchers, when the unit was finally shut down, it was providing 110 kW of electric power into the local
grid with an electrical efficiency of more than 46% and showed no signs of diminishing performance. Based on this unit's success, larger SOFCs are being tested and a 220kW SOFC-microturbine "hybrid" system is starting up at the University of California-Irvine and a 1-megawatt system is being planned
for Fort Meade, Maryland.
<http://www.fe.doe.gov/techline/tl_fuelcell_netherlands.html>

H Power Residential Fuel Cells to be Demonstrated on Long Island. Long Island Power Authority has signed an agreement to become the first U.S. state utility to test a residential fuel cell system using H Power fuel cell
stacks. The residential systems, integrated by NBG Technologies, will provide 4.5 kW of power and will demonstrate grid connectability. <http://www.hpower.com/NEWSnbgannounce.html>

From: http://www.fuelcells.org/ I think we can look forward to a clean, non-polluting hydrogen future.
Fuel Cells 2000 is a non-profit, educational activity that seeks to promote the development, demonstration and commercialization of fuel cell technology.

Bitch~! Bitch ~! Bitch ~! When I taught in public school (30 years ago), it quickly became apparent that teenagers can complain an awful lot. So, third day of each new class, I laid down the law: complain ALL you like, just have a positive alternative to propose at the end of said complaint ~! This shut a lot of 'em up.

Well, last evening I listened to a wonderful, positive, uplifting tape by environmentalist, Ms. Hunter Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute - talk given at the Austin Green Festival few weeks ago. She talked about using nature as a "go-by" or instructional aide in developing sustainability for us two-leggeds on the home planet. Novel idea, since tribal fo'k (that would be us Natives) did this for centuries. Poignant example: spiders can weave a web stronger than tedlar without using any heat, petrochemicals or producing "waste" -- now scientists are trying to recreate this process in the lab.

After listening to her, I went to bed on a much more positive note -- there IS hope for the future -- Green Economies are not only profitable, functionable and practical, the are a reality in many quarters, and becoming moreso, outside the beltway in OUR nation's capital. I also made a vow to, at least weekly, post something positive here, that is enlightening and uplifting, that "they" (we ARE 'they') doing to make things better, in addition to each edition of my bitchy rants.

Toward that end, check out what Lovins' ex-mate has to teach about hydrogen as the fuel of the future in his primer on hydrogen fuels at: http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid985.php.

"Get informed. Get involved. Get agitated. Positive Change is Possible (but it's up to us) ~!"

Federal contract spending $19,424,005,000
Department of Defense spending $13,149,553,000
National Aeronautics And Space Administration spending $3,787,837,000

Last nite on PBS, Bill Moyers re-played part of a prior program addressing the total lack of accountability in DOD (dept. of defense) spending, noting congress gave bushie MORE than he even asked for -- a $400 BILLION dollar sum for the budget allocation this FY. This doesn't even include $31 Bil for "homeland security" (wasn't homeland security what the defense budget was FOR in the FIRST place???) or the $87 BIL needed to re-build Iraq -- which didn't NEED "re" building til after bushie had it invaded and bombed to smithereens.

Now to MY way of thinking, $400 bil could better be spent cleaning up toxic waste dumps (which bushie had the EPA back off from -- no money) so the "homeland" of people living around them would have a safer place for their kids to play -- developing clean, cheap, renewable energies so we couldn't be dependent, l0 years down the road, on foreign oil (unless/until "nationlized" by bushie) supplies, developing jobs where the workers OWN their jobs and ceo's can't make more than ten times the salary of the lowest paid worker, housing the homeless (so THEY would be more "secure"), restoring pensions lost to Enron and their ilk (so retirees would be more "secure".

The NOW website, at http://pbs.org/now/index.html has a ton of good info on the pentagon and what they are NOT doing to really protect us with all that money. Next week, Moyers takes a peek at "a veil of secrecy descends on democracy" -- should be an excellent, if sickening program

Jobs? WHAT jobs??? In the next sum months, we'll be hearing a lot of hype about how well the economy has rebounded (sic) and how many jobs have been created, at least outta the mouths of the bushites. T'ain't necessarily so. If you want the REAL numbers, go to http://jobwatch.org/.