Old Hippie Chic's Rants

A personal glimpse... Some blogs are personal, some are political (are there any others??). Today, mine reflects a more personal aspect of life, yesterday, here on the northern edge of the Chihuahuan desert, 30 miles from ANYTHING.

WHAT a day ~!!! got a late start today, but by 11:00 am, all (dashound pup and two siamese cats) were fed and i was outside, MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS, enjoying the sunshine, putting out rat poison in the cactus beds, OUTSIDE the fence, and got the bright idea, since mice/rats were stealing my peanut butter off the traps w/out springing them, or so i presumed, i'd mix a little of the rat poison w/ peanut butter and bait said traps -- then they could eat ALL my peanut butter they wanted, and get their ticket to the beyond punched at same time

well, the kid's dog was dutifully following me around inside the yard (where one water trap is, in a hole in the ground and usually well protected w/ tin) -- the INSTANT my back was turned, she had all the peanut butter -- and the rat poison -- off the corncob strung on bailing wire across the bucket of water ~!!)

so, stop everything, go LOOK for pet health book, find page on 'poisoning', then locate syrup of ipicac, weigh the dog, give her the dose, put kid to watching for 30-45 min. to make sure hound throws up else i have to go to next step to empty her tummy

start lunch, go scrape up dog vomit, work on lunch, mix up activated charcoal for dog (to absorb remaining poison in system), burn lunch, give dog 5 tsp. of charcoal mixed in water, get 2 tsp on kid's clothes, get clean clothes for kid, serve lunch, time 30 min before next step for dog, call around to see who has milk of magnesia (to give dog the runs to get REST of crap outta
her system - the charcoal and any rat poison left), gobble lunch, go outside to see who just drove up (anticipating milk of magnesia delivery from friend), only to confront the new principal waving papers in the air

papers are my 'proof' school approved transportation for kid (this had been an ongoing battle w/ the school, since Dec. 29th while my car is "down" -- they said they couldn't/wouldn't let her ride bus because we live too close to school -- i pulled out the stops and bombarded them with Federal Education law) to start 7:40 a.m tuesday - no school monday

driver pulls up behind principal w/ milk of magnesia so i'm carrying on three conversations at once

by now, it's well after l:00 pm

get rid of principal, corral dog, who by now is barking at all the company and feeling FINE, get two tsp. of milk of magnesia down here, which has not, yet, caused any 'runs'

call pegasus and get instructions to play 'technician' to re-set sat dish to get the l/3 of channels which left the air four days ago =unplug 3 things and replug and i "doing" HATE electronics (have dragged my feet on getting VCR connected for over a year, now), but get it done

wash up dishes and put food away, walk to post office, and FINALLY, after 3:00 pm, set to finishing my gardening -- setting out gladiloa bulbs and two pink iris roots

then here comes indian friend, barely sobered up, and wanting a loan of $5.00, promising to repay $7.00. stop what i'm doing, have him take us to gas station to cash check, get home and return to gardening

by 5:20 pm, i've finally turned one flower bed, mixed in dead leaves and compost and planted stuff

by 5:25 pm, dog has dug up iris, just planted, so replant it, cuss out dog and barricade new bulbs w/ bucket

pour rain water on all above and now time to clean fingernails and shoot dog ~!!!!

spent almost an hour earlier yesterday morning 'counseling' a crazy friend who wants to leave his duties of ll years caring for mom w/ alzheimers and strike out for buffalo, ny -- THIS TIME OF YEAR???? I THINK NOT ~!! got him peeled off the ceiling and tears dried.

See more on my latest book, "Courage for Caregivers" or order at: http://booklocker.com/books/1343.html

I'll be back to my political punditry manana. In the meantime, check out "Shifting the Blame: Is David Kay a Weapon of Mass Deflection?" at http://www.punditman.com/

SHADES OF 'NAM all over again... Canada as a Last refuge

I was hard at work, finishing up my senior year in college at the height of the Vietnam conflict -- and finagling a delicate balancing act between protest and keeping a low 'nuf profile so as to NOT lose my scholarship(s), on-campus job or just plain get kicked outta NTSU. (Even so, I still got called on the carpet for an audience w/ one Imogene Dickey, her real name, Dean of Women for my "behaviour". Defending myself to her should have been a prelude to a great legal career as a trial lawyer awaiting me ~!)

One thing was certain, tho -- had i been born w/ a different set of genes -- "xx" instead of "xy" (or is it vice versa?), I'd have been missing an arm -- because 'they' would have had to pull one arm off me as i hot-footed it for Canada. I just didn't have a dog in that fight in the rice-paddies, and while I did, and do, support our military, i'm NOT interested in becoming a target without damned good reason ~!

And I'm no weanie -- in fact, i've been called a 'warrior woman' by a Native elder. But i'm also a confirmed peacenik and figure you can't shoot your way into healthy resolution of differences.

Apparently, I'm not alone in this thought, as Canada, once again, is becoming a haven for a handful of u.s. would-be troops as more and more commit suicide in Iraq, and ALL are being told they can't "un-enlist" when tour of duty is over...

http://www.vancourier.com/015104/news/015104nn1.html

At Branch 142 of the Royal Canadian Legion, Christmas lights still hang off the bar and decorate displays of wartime memorabilia. At a table in the back of the room, light from a CBC TV camera crew casts the features of a dozen people in sharp relief. Among them are several American and Canadian war veterans who have arrived on a wintry Vancouver night to hear U.S. activist Carl Rising-Moore's pitch for what he calls the "Freedom Underground."

According to an Associated Press wire story from last November, at least 17 U.S. troops have committed suicide in Iraq, and the actual number is almost certainly higher, prompting demands for answers from family members. (I saw a count of over 24 suicides recently)

Rising-Moore suspects the suicides are the result of the pressures of combat, and lack of control of the situation in the embattled country, where U.S. soldiers have been targeted virtually daily in bomb attacks-deaths have already topped 500.

"For every death you've got 10 times as many injuries," says Rising-Moore. "I've heard 11,000 have been evacuated from illnesses or injuries due to combat."

The French weekly magazine Le Canard Enchaine reports that 1,700 U.S. soldiers have deserted their posts in Iraq, many of them failing to return to military duty after getting permission to go back to the United States. They simply disappear off the radar, and some of them may well be in Canada.

Rising-Moore believes the numbers of suicides will rise as U.S. soldiers returning to the States choose to take their own lives rather than face another tour of duty in Iraq. The so-called "stop-loss" orders to U.S. army duty, extending a soldier's tour beyond his or her contractual agreement, are expected to be expanded to greater numbers of troops. According to reports in the U.S. press, more soldiers due to return from Iraq and Afghanistan over the next several months will not be allowed to retire or otherwise leave the service for 90 days after they return to their home bases, while it's decided whether they'll be reassigned

Then, there's the different treatment awaiting "deserters" vs. "draft dodgers" who might flee north -- amnisty vs. deportation back here for the former for imprisonment or death. *Nuther prognostication you heard here before the event -- by this time next year, the U.S. WILL have reinstated the draft. There's no way bushie can maintain global domination, i.e. the "armed camp" he's aiming for, without it ~!

Class president is no job for a cheerleader... It's not enough to say bushie mis-speaks, has trouble phrasing his phrases, or slaughters his native language. Nor is it enough to note he lies and speaks "double-talk" -- what he says has little correlation to his actions. As this next election looms, it's high time to look behind his messages to the true meaning of his words and the intent of his actions. I don't believe either have the best interests of the amerikan people in mind. In his third State of the Union, Bush moved from nuance to nonsense.

The president pretended that his original invasion of Iraq had been inspired by something he termed “weapons of mass destruction program-related activities” instead of the weapons themselves. Not only did this contradict literally hundreds of statements by top administration officials who clamed to have clear, positive proof of actual weapons—Cheney even spoke of “reconstituted nuclear weapons”—it is also rather difficult to figure out what in blazes it is supposed to mean.

Perhaps, if the bill collector calls, I will inform him that I have a checkbook which is evidence of ‘possible intent to develop bill-paying programs.’ That should satisfy him ??? We have a system of government where priorities have little to do with the people's needs -- and is non-responsive or unaccountable to the people picking up the tab -- where resources are allotted to war, profit making, repression, snooping, media monopolizing. Monies are allocated to building prisons not schools, training guards but not teachers.

I know a little about addiction and withdrawal, but it's hard to comprehend the obscessive, out-of-control addiction to greed and profit American corporations have, and which is supported by bushie & co. Why is it better for 25 East Indians to earn $1 each per hour than for an American to earn $25 per hour? What will happen when the whole fraudulent system of 'globaliation for profit' blows up... and Americans are left with debts they can't pay... and foreigners are left with mountains of products and no one
to sell them to?

Are we living in a world where "reality" is one huge shell-game? Americans pretend to get rich by mortgaging their houses
and spending the money. Their government pretends to protect future generations by running up huge debts that they will have to pay. The Fed pretends to rescue a debt-soaked economy by splashing on more credit! The Chinese pretend to build their economy with the largest vendor-financing scheme in history - lending more to their American customers than they can ever hope to get back.

Then, to compound the "fake" issues bushie seems intent on addressing, there's the very real possibility of Ma Nature kicking back at ALL of us. I belong to list that looks at issues involving "peak oil" or the sliding down the "bad" side of the bell curve of petroleum production and reserves... it may not just be the oil running out. 'global warming' seems to precede ice ages from what i've read, and the next one may not be that far off. interestin' times & spot in the universe we live in ~! see following.

CLIMATE COLLAPSE
The Pentagon's Weather Nightmare
The climate could change radically, and fast. That would be the mother of
all national security issues.
FORTUNE
Monday, January 26, 2004
By David Stipp

At first the changes are easily mistaken for normal weather variation-allowing skeptics to dismiss them as a "blip" of little importance
and leaving policymakers and the public paralyzed with uncertainty. But by
2020 there is little doubt that something drastic is happening. The average
temperature has fallen by up to five degrees Fahrenheit in some regions of
North America and Asia and up to six degrees in parts of Europe. (By
comparison, the average temperature over the North Atlantic during the last
ice age was ten to 15 degrees lower than it is today.) Massive droughts have begun in key agricultural regions. The average annual rainfall has dropped by nearly 30% in northern Europe, and its climate has become more like Siberia's. from: http://www.fortune.com/fortune/print/0%2C15935%2C582584%2C00.html

BUSH RESUME
George W. Bush
The White House, USA

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

LAW ENFORCEMENT:

I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

MILITARY:

I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

COLLEGE:

I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:

I ran for U.S. Congress and lost.

I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.

With the help of my father and our right-wing friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS:

I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union.

During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.

I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.

With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:

I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.

I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.

I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.

I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.

In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.

I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history.
My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.

I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.

My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.

I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip-offs in history.

I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.

I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.

I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.

I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).

I set the record for fewest number of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period.

After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.

I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families -- in war time.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq, then blamed the lies on our British friends.

I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD.

I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.

All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

PLEASE CONSIDER MY EXPERIENCE WHEN VOTING IN 2004.

PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERY VOTER YOU KNOW.

HAPPY B-DAY TO ME ~! Not a national holiday, but today I have 22 YEARS straight sobriety ~! A lot of people who know me say, "You couldn't have been a 'real' alcoholic ~!". But I was, and am -- just very sober one now. Many who knew me back then would have given excellent odds that I'd never get five years and would have died drunk. Proved 'em wrong, I did. Being of Choctaw, Scotch and Irish descent, the odds were more like 80% I would become an alkie and I spent l7 years on the warpath. Had the faulty metabolism of alcoholics and the creation of tetrahydroisoquinoline, THIQ for short, in our bodies not been explained to me, I'd have never sobered up for very long. An alkie makes THIQ out OF alcohol, in our bodies, it's more addictive than alcohol, and causes the cravings. Sorta like if you are allergic to peanuts or shellfish and go into anaphalactic shock from eating them, you DON'T EAT THEM -- normal drinkers break down alcohol into simpler compounds to expel - H2O and CO2. But 10% of drinkers have physiology / chemistry sets that make the addictive THIQ, which disrupts neuron communication in the brain. Don't wanna make more THIQ? Simple, don't drink -- one day at a time.

Freedom of the Press belongs to... the guy that owns one. CBS has refused to air the winning ad in MoveOn's 'Bush in 30 Seconds' contest during the Super Bowl -- citing a policy against advocacy advertising. In the meantime, they're accepting advertising from the White House's Office of National Drug Policy, which was responsible for the ad last year linking casual drug use to terrorism. Sign a petition and watch the ad that CBS won't air during the Super Bowl at:
http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/

My Sunday Sermonette... I happen to find it scarey that the misleader-in-chief plays his religion card so loudly and often. But then I was reared in the Church of Christ, RAN outta the 'camp meeting' when they tried to baptize me at age 11, bolted for good a few years later, becoming a life-long Unitarian for the past 40 years. To me, you do "good" -- the "right" thing because it IS the thing to do -- not because god's gonna 'getcha' if you don't (and get caught). Far too many people, bushie included, seem to think a) god is ONLY on their side and b) they are a good deal "better" than those of us of the heathen persuasion. NOT ~!

Besides, I never could do bidiness w/ the god of Bushie -- a schizoid creator who flip-flops from loving and caring to harsh and daming -- one who'd cast folks (and how do "burn" a spirit -- it has no physicality???) to hell for eternity for not believing a message they'd not heard (eg the "pagans" in Peru who don't even speak english, let alone READ bibles). I wouldn't be that cruel or unthinking and god should be brighter than moi'. When it comes to theology (and i DID attend two Methodist seminaries, one term each) I can't do black and white stuff -- there, my favorite color is plaid and I bet goddie's is, too, since such diversity was created here ~!!

The religious right wing has no monopoly on good people, let alone good politicians. But somewhere along the way it got a near-monopoly on the moral dictionary. A president doesn't have to be religious to be moral. You don't need to be godly to be good. But it's time that the politicians of the left took back the language of the right ... and the wrong.

A Pew poll shows that people who attend church more than once a week vote Republican 63 to 37. A New York Times poll says that people who say religion is extremely or very important to them approve of Bush by a margin of 56 to 39. And Pat Robertson says God personally told him that "George Bush is going to win in a walk."

See the rest of this at: http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16312

Is this "justice"??? Kill a human, get 100 days in jail South Dakota Congressman Bill Janklow has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in the deadly crash that claimed the life of 55-year-old Minnesota motorcyclist Randolph Scott. The accident occurred when the legislator ran a stop sign at a rural intersection near Sioux Falls on August 16. Police investigators determined that Rep. Janklow's Cadillac proceeded through the intersection at a speed estimated to have been between 70-75 mph in the 55 mph zone, and continued into the path of Scott's Harley-Davidson without stopping, giving the rider no chance to avoid the fatal collision.  http://www.streetbiker-mag.com/sb0131/oseas.html

Penalty for having sex... 10 YEARS in jail. African American Student Gets 10 Years In Jail For Consensual Sex With A White Girl. The victim - and let there be no mistake that is the only word that fits here - is Marcus Dixon: a young man who was an 'A' student in high school, a member of the National Honor Society, one of the best defensive
football players in the United States, who scored above a 1200 on his SAT, and had signed a letter of intent to
attend Vanderbilt University as a student-athlete in the most complete sense of the word.   http://www.indybay.org/print.php?id=1667088

UN-REALITY CHECK... think you are living in the 'real' world? What if it's an illusion? What if you are only seeing a small percentage of what IS "there"??? For some mind-bending (expanding?) thoughts, see below. For some really exceptional art and poetry, click on the great illusion link at the end of this post. (and NO, i've NOT been dipping into LSD or smoking my sox ~!!!)

In order to realize the full magnitude of the opportunities 2004 is providing, we need to shift our awareness slightly. Instead of looking at the outer world and accepting the chaos and confusion existing there as our reality, we need to remember that the physical plane is just a reflection of Humanity's consciousness. Now that the limitless flow of Divine Consciousness is available to every person evolving on Earth, we have the ability to easily create a new reality. The sooner Humanity accepts that
Truth the sooner we will manifest the perfection of Heaven on Earth, which is our purpose and reason for being on the planet at this time.  www.1spirit.com/eraofpeace

"You move to new places, designed from inside,
and it all flows from visions that began in your mind."

***Worth seeing, hearing, feeling ---and SHARING (SMILE) CLICK on this website....and ENJOY!!
http://www.thegreatillusion.com/introduction.html

I predict... that the Patrician (Sen Kerry) will storm-trooper his way to the dem nomination and then lose the election for us to bushie by garnering only 43-47% of the votes (popular). Will his 40-plus year old war record trump Shrub's year of being AWOL from national guard service?? No way, Jose'. Bushie is just too slick, too good of a liar, and too personable. As much as I detest the man, I give the devil his due -- and G.W. Bush IS an accomplished campaigner. There's just no way Kerry will appeal to the masses -- his "truth" will never trump bushie's half-truths. You heard it here, first.

Go, Daddy-O... As bushie prepares to "cowboy-up" for his forthcoming shoot-out with an as yet undeclared Democrat opponent, we should have an excellent study in social psychology. Numerous writers have likened G.W. to the "stern father" figure in his polarizing paradigm. An excellent article examining the flaws in such a gestalt is at: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17643.

An excerpt with my comments... The (State of the Union) speech, like most right-wing discourse these days, is in a kind of code, based on a moral system that not all Americans share. Lying below the 50-50 political schism in this country are two opposing worldviews. Each sees national politics through the lens of an idealized family, either a conservative strict-father family or a progressive nurturing parent family.

Presidential Double-Speak... Altho i refused to watch bushie's speech tues nite, there's no way to avoid the "sound-bites" presented on every 'nooze' channel. And most folks, "conservatives all", here in West Texas support the man. They are loyal to a "fellow" (sic) Texan, he says what they want to hear, and his words are comforting to them, so no reason to look beyond
to see if he walks his talk -- which he doesn't ~! But don't bother his upporters with reality, let alone cloud their minds with opposing information. Many just don't "get it", nor do they WANT to 'get it', that his speech was plagued more with sins of omission than crimes of commission ~!

Towit, to sell his unappetizing mix of tax cuts and terror, the president once more had to mislead the American people. From: Take Back America Campaign | www.ourfuture.org

Talk Back to Bush's State of the Union
On January 20th, President Bush performed for a national audience in his State of the Union address. Designed to dress up current realities and package new initiatives in bright phrases, the speech instead revealed that Bush has failed to meet the real challenges our nation is facing. Below, Robert L. Borosage critiques the president's address and reveals what the administration has sought to hide from the American public.

The Misleader — A Critique of Bush's State of the Union

A year ago, the president used his State of the Union address to mislead the American people about the threat posed by Iraq. This year, his pre-election campaign speech was marked more by what it omitted than what it contained. The president offered no major new initiatives. He ignored the basic challenges facing the country — an unprecedented jobless recovery, a broken health care system, overcrowded schools, soaring university tuitions, shattered retirement plans, Gilded Age inequality, record trade deficits that can't be sustained, and climate changes that pose a present danger. Instead, the president offered only more of the same.

The bulk of the speech was focused on war, with the White House apparently concerned that the periodic Homeland Security alerts, and scenes of carnage from Iraq and Afghanistan aren't sufficient daily reminders that we are at war. But once more, the president painted a picture far removed from reality.

Homeland Security
He pledged to "continue to give our homeland security and law enforcement personnel every tool they need to defend us." In reality, the frontline defenders — police, fire fighters, public health departments — are suffering cutbacks across the country. The president refused to fund adequate inspection of our ports, and cutback on inspectors in airports.   EPA has identified over 750 chemical plants whose destruction could cause the deaths of 100,000 people or more. Yet, despite evidence that their security plans are often shoddy and shortchanged, the president blocked legislation to mandate federal review of the plants when the chemical industry lobby mobilized against it.

On the Economy, WHAT world is this guy living in???? Again from Borosage's critique: On domestic issues, the president appears simply blind to reality. He presented the economy as "strong," his top end taxes as "working," and jobs as being "on the rise." He asked only that Congress make his tax cuts permanent and stay the course. In reality, he has the worst jobs record of any president since the Great Depression, some 2.3 million jobs lost on his watch.   We've never had a recovery go so long without producing jobs or growing wages. The president's top end and business tax cuts — untied to producing jobs at home — are generating more jobs in Shanghai, China than in Saginaw, Michigan.

On Education, the "education" president boasted about his reforms (neglecting to address UNfunded mandates and cutbacks in federal spending ) about providing more funding for schools and requiring higher standards. But again, he's out of touch with the reality that schools — faced with the largest number of kids in school ever — are suffering cuts across the country, laying off teachers, doubling up on classes, cutting after school programs. One in three schools used trailers to house students.   The
president opposed efforts to shield schools from the fiscal crisis that now afflicts the states. He's cutting taxes on millionaires while schools are laying off teachers. He's building schools in Iraq, even as he opposed the school construction finance program advocated during the Clinton years. And he's now $17 billion short of meeting his own promise on funding his reforms.

More at: www.ourfuture.org

It's all about the money... Old indian saying -- to figure out who's doing what and WHY, ask "who profits" ie follow the money trail to the source. FYI: Forty members (out of 100) of the current U.S. Senate are millionaires; less than one percent of the American people are millionaires.

AUSTIN, Texas – My fellow Americans, the state of the union's finances is enough to make an Enron accountant gag. When George W. Bush took office, he was handed a going concern. Projected annual surpluses from 2002 to 2011 were $5.6 trillion. In its most recent projection, the Congressional Budget Office says it expects $1.4 trillion in total deficits from 2004 to 2013. Bush's new future spending proposals – including everything from the goofy manned-flight-to-Mars to the promotion of marriage – already total an additional $2 trillion. See the rest of this VERY good summary at: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17615

From Greg Palast: Here is the money behind the new top dog in the Democratic dog pound, John Kerry’s Top Ten Career Patrons calculated by the Center for Public Integrity, Washington. (I KNEW there was something more about Kerry that I don't like, other than his 5:00 o'clock shadow)

1. Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC, Boston $223,046
2. Fleet Boston Financial Corp., Boston $172,387
3. AOL Time Warner Inc., New York $134,960
4. Hale and Dorr LLP, Boston $123,258
5. Hill, Holiday, Connors, Cosmopulos Inc., Boston $119,300
6. Harvard University $108,700
7. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, NY $105,150
8. Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP, Minneapolis $103,450
9. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., NY $100,000
10. Piper Rudnick, Baltimore $92,300

*Sen. John Kerry also created a soft money committee (Citizen Soldier Fund), which raised approximately $1.35 million in unregulated donations and spent $147,000 in Iowa during the last two years.

"The real powers that be in this country are not on any ballot. And they are accountable to no one. The bottom line is that the American people have a right to know who is underwriting their presidential candidates, and their democracy." Lewis has just released "The Buying of the President 2004." In 2000 the guy with the least votes -- but the most money -- won, making the contest an auction, not an election. Lewis tells you who the winning bidders are in this race, beginning with the temporary resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
--From the first ever guest blog on GregPalast.com by Charles Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity.

Of course it takes a lotta mun to run for office, but keep in mind, the presidential job, despite perks, only pays around $500,000.00 a year ~! So I question the motivation. Big money mixed with irregular and high-tech redistricting help explain why the incumbent reelection rate in the House of Representatives the past three elections has been more than 98 percent. These are the kind of numbers we expect to see in countries like North Korea or China, not the United States.

Maybe we should make it official and put our government up for sale on eBay -- highest bidder(s) take all?? Despite campaign finance reform, 2004 already is and will ultimately be the most expensive election in U.S. history. President George W. Bush has shattered his own astounding 1999 fundraising record and collected $130 million in 2003 - that's more than half a million dollars a day - and his campaign has $99 million in cash on hand with no major Republican primary challenger. Bush's official third quarter cash on hand number of $73 million was more than all of the major Democratic candidates and all of the Democratic national party committees combined ($54 million) through September!

Iowa Caucus results... now, wasn't THAT special?? Dr./Guv. Dean just really made an arse outta hisself ~! Or maybe he was an ass all along and it just took a while to surface. They say you never really "know" a person til you live with or marry them -- after a few months on the campaign trail, guess we all got "intimate" with the former front-runner's real colors. He looked like he'd gone WAAAAAY off his medications ~!

I never saw anything LIKE his "failure" speech and i've been to 3 county fairs, 2 goat-ropin' rodeos and an Oil Show or several. Can't you just see Dean going to address the United Nation (with all that green marble back-drop), doing his strip-tease, shedding the coat, grabbing at his shirt sleeves for a roll-up and telling that soft-spoken Black gentleman who heads the UN to "shut up and sit down"???

It was a pleasant surprize that the boy from the south, Sen. John Edwards did so well - shades of JKF again -- he'd make someone a good 2nd, get his 8 years of 'sperience and then give us another 8 years of democracy... maybe. But once again, like with a lotta men I've known, too bad you can put Edwards, Clark and Kerry in a gunny (feed) sack, shake them up and pour out one really whup ass candidate to chew bushie up and spit him out.

As for Kerry, you can bite me for this one, but what they call "patrician" in the northeast (Yale land), we call "horse-faced" here in Texas -- yeah, i know you shouldn't judge a candidate by their looks or speech (but what else is there), but being of the fairer gender, i do. And Kerry looks like he got his face caught in a vice and squeezed too hard. AND his 5:00 o'clock shadow starts appearing shortly after lunch and doesn't fade much ~!

Oh well. It remains to be seen if the dems want to harken back to 30-40 years ago and a Vietnam hero with Kerry or look forward with a clear vision for the NEXT 30-40 years with Edwards -- he's no more "less proven" than bushie was when HE stole the election 3.5 years ago. Then, there's Mr. Rogers, the best of both worlds (blend of Repub and Dem) Gen Clark -- maybe he could team up with Edwards for a Mssrs. NICE-tough guy combo?

Gebhart's was NO surprise, at all -- no eyebrows -- guess their time came and went, as well. But it's time for some fresh blood and his "history" does have a few corporate bones rattlin' in the closet. I guess you have to have an ego the size of a wooley mammoth to run for president ~!

Bushie's report card... while i've been keeping an eye on the Iowa caucus -- it seems a shame that at least 3 or 4 pretty good guys are all trying to get one job, one the Dem's side, while the Repubs are SOOOOooooo short on ability or talent, but i won't be watching the 'state of the union' message -- am fresh outta barf bags.

JUST IN CASE you catch it, there's a handy-dandy little scorecard you can use, courtesy of http://www.truemajority.org.
Bushie says he likes testing and accountability, so he should appreciate this. For a sampling:

Economics
The Big Picture: During the President's term the number of jobs in this country has actually declined by over 2 million. The poor have gotten poorer. Record deficits have kick-started growth, but recent gains in jobs aren't even enough to cover the number of new workers looking for jobs due to natural population growth.
The Spin: Recent economic growth is a sign of better things to come.
The Lies: Everyone got a tax cut and the rich and poor benefited equally.
Extra Credit: Give the President extra credit if he admits that the rebound in the economy is being fueled by record deficits that will eventually choke the economy if we don't change things soon

Social Studies
The Big Picture: After 9/11 everyone wanted to help us, now almost nobody does. Osama is still on the loose and our bullying overseas adventures are fueling Al Qaeda recruiting.
The Spin: The President is taking strong and decisive action. We haven't had an attack on our soil since 9/11 and unnamed evildoers have been thwarted.
The Lies: Iraq was involved in 9/11.
Extra Credit: Give the President extra credit if he admits that last year's State of the Union was all about Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction that did not exist

Health
The Big Picture: We do have a new Medicare benefit for prescription drugs. Unfortunately it was done in such a way only drug companies could love. Heck, the new law actually makes it illegal for states to join together and negotiate lower drug prices. Meanwhile, 44 million Americans don't have any health insurance. That's an increase of about 4 million since President Bush took office. The rest of us are paying more for the coverage we do have.
The Spin: The Medicare drug benefit is great.
The Lies: We can't afford to give everyone health insurance.
Extra Credit: Give the President extra credit if he admits that we are the only wealthy nation in the world without universal health insurance.

Give him grades from "A" to "F". The President says he is deeply committed to accountability, testing, and reporting. This is your opportunity to grade his performance as our country's leader. So when you are done grading the speech you can mail this report card to him at:

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Opinions are like armpits... we all have a coupla 'dem. But factoids are something else again, usually stand up under a wee bit more scrutiny (or have more basis for belief), thus i noted http://www.factcheck.org below. But, today's rant is just that -- my opinion -- imho, i don't believe people are innately "good" or "evil", stupid or magnanimous.

Is the party over??? See http://www.oilcrash.com/index.htm. I grew up in the West Texas "oil patch". And recently began reading, AGAIN, materials online re: declining oil reserves -- oil being the entire BASIS for life as we know it -- at least in "civilized" regions. This is certainly 'fuel for thought' -- or not. Most will just fiddle away while Rome burns, but it might pay to look into this. Back in 1999, I organized a workshop on "Y2K", which became a "non-event". In my gut, I felt it would not spell doom, but I think there may be much more merit to the claims of "peak oil".

This website reveals that within five years:

FactCheck.org... Bill Moyers featured a neat site last nite on NOW (PBS) -- one set up to "hold politicians accountable" for that stuff that comes outta their mouths. Noting that everyone is entitled to their own opinons, but NOT their own (fabricated) facts ~! Check it out at: http://www.factcheck.org/

The president's focus on space exploration because it "improves our lives, and lifts our national spirit." However, behind the scenes, USA Today reported that Bush was persuaded to move forward in part due to the military benefits, as promoted to him by Vice President Cheney. The Center for American Progress' Progress Report yesterday noted an appearance by Republican Congressman Tom Feeney on Scarborough Country where he stated, "Somebody is going to dominate space. When they do, just like when the British dominated the naval part of our globe, established their empire, just like the United States has ominated the air superiority, ultimately, whoever is able to dominate space will be able to control the destiny of the entire Earth."

from: THE DAILY MIS-LEAD http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1342965&l=14817

Bubba the eco-freak??? The story below (from http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0429-03.htm) is not new news, but in case you missed it... It's especially heart-warming in light of all bushie has done to dismantle environmental regulation in the past 30-some months ~! along w/ something to think about this fall when you go cast your invisible, digitized-electronic, paper-trail-less ballot ~! Wonder if he'd like to open his place to a few homeless Vietnam vets who are chillin' in shelters near the Boston commons right now? Or single moms or elderly who are choosing between paying sky-high heating bills vs. food/meds since bushie cut back funding for home-heating fuel allotments for the 'poor'?

Published on Sunday, April 29, 2001 in the Chicago Tribune

Bush Loves Ecology -- At Home

by Rob Sullivan

The 4,000-square-foot house is a model of environmental rectitude.

Geothermal heat pumps located in a central closet circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground where the temperature is a constant 67 degrees; the water heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. Systems such as the one in this "eco-friendly" dwelling use about 25% of the electricity that traditional heating and cooling systems utilize.

A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof runs; wastewater from sinks, toilets and showers goes into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is used to irrigate the landscaping surrounding the four-bedroom home. Plants and flowers native to the high prairie area blend the structure into the surrounding ecosystem.

No, this is not the home of some eccentrically wealthy eco-freak trying to shame his fellow citizens into following the pristineness of his self-righteous example. And no, it is not the wilderness retreat of the Sierra Club or the Natural Resources Defense Council, a haven where tree-huggers plot political strategy.

This is President George W. Bush's "Texas White House" outside the small town of Crawford.

Yes, the same George W. who believes arsenic and drinking water might not be such a bad combo, the same man who reneged on his campaign promise to lower carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, the same man who is doing everything in his power to fling open the Alaskan Natural Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Punditman.com -- I just found a new favorite site -- http://punditman.com/ -- "Cutting through fog, exposing lies, and unravelling mumbo jumbo." What's really NEAT here is the deck of cards offered, featuring all the bushies and their crooked capers, loaded lies and featuring bubba as the joker he is ~! Check it out, along w/ good articles including the link i followed to the blurb below:

Just what GOD are 'they' working with?? Speaking lovingly of Bush, Pat Robertson stated of late -- "The Lord has just blessed him. I mean, he could make terrible mistakes and comes out of it. It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad, God picks him up because he's a man of prayer and God's blessing him. I think Bush is going to win (his first presidential election this fall) in a walk."

Blessed? I wonder if Pat Robertson believes God will forgive Bush for sending more than 500 soldiers to their unnecessary deaths, and for ordering a military campaign responsible for tens of thousands (and still counting) civilians slaughtered, plus thousands more wounded on both sides in a falsely propagated war that had no justification for being fought?

Blessed? Will God Bless Bush for subjecting 95-percent of America's population who are struggling (many without jobs and health coverage) for carrying an obvious unfair amount of the tax burden while his wealthy corporate campaign-contributing cronies enjoy federal handouts, bailouts, massive tax cuts, swift anti-regulatory measures, scrapping of vast work-safety measures, and the lifting of environmental restrictions that protect the very people and planet that he (GOD) created? Read the whole of this neat essay at: http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_4398.shtml

New Links & Lib-Cons... I've coined a new "word"/phrase: Lib-Cons. For "liberal-conservatives". If the Neo-Cons can surround bushie and run our guv-mint on the inside, we can be outsider lib-cons. The word may never achieve fame beyond this blog, but it has merit, and not as a new entry in the diagnostic manual for shrinks, either -- doesn't mean a contradiction in terms OR one who is politically schzoid... well, maybe a little schistzy. As I define it, a "lib-con" is a liberal who loathes seeing tax-payers monies squandered on the rich, big corporations or pork-barrel projects.

A Lib-con would rather see all that filthy lucre going to serve the working poor, single moms, housing the homeless, paying for veterans benefits, cleaning up the environment (and btw, ALL that would CREATE JOBS for real people, along w/ bureaucraps). FDR and LBJ were Lib-cons. If you join me, we're in good company. A Lib-con thinks Robin Hood and John Dillinger (of "I rob banks because that's where the money is at" fame) had the right idea -- take the money from them that's got it and re-distribute it rather than robbing the poor, had the right idea. A Lib-con figures a balanced budget is a good idea, living within your means probably won't hurt (anything more than your ego, anyway) and we outta take care of bidiness here at home FIRST, and solve OUR problems before stickin' our noses into other people's beeswax. Of course, bushie will never make it as a Lib-con -- he doesn't even realize that there ARE problems beyond "how to eat a pretzel without gagging'.

Now, for more brain food on your cyber plate: check out http://tvnewslies.org/ -- lotta work went into that site, much more than what i can ever attempt to replicate here with my best cut and paste efforts. As they so aptly phrase it, 1/2 a truth = 1 whole lie -- here's the stuff that won't make it outta Dan Blather's mouth ~!

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17547

The Real National Security Threat: The Bush Economy By Ian Williams, AlterNet, January 13, 2004

A lot of liberals accuse George Bush of cowardice. It's a preposterous accusation to level at a president who is running at least two staggeringly expensive wars at the same time, even as he threatens to take on more, not to mention planning an invasion of Mars and cutting taxes on all your rich friends. And all this in the face of the world's biggest ever trade and budget deficits. Now that takes cojones ... unless, of course, you think that the president keeps his brains in the same general area of his anatomy.

Most Americans, who have been hearing endless reports about the so-called economic "boom" on TV, may not realize that the country is, in fact, worth a third less than it was a few years ago. With the dollar plummeting in value, the U.S. economy is far poorer when measured in terms of Euros or pounds.

For 30 years, wealth inside America has been shifted from the working poor to the stock-optioned rich, and the White House and the media expects us to celebrate – as though a booming stock market is going to cheer up the single mother who has been thrown off welfare and forced to look for a minimum wage job. But with the dollar falling so precipitously, it's time to pay close attention to just how badly our economy has gone awry.

The secret to the looming catastrophe is our bloated deficits, trade and budget. Last year, for example, we bought over $100 billion more stuff from China than we sold them. China took a leaf from Japan's book and bought U.S. treasury bonds with the surplus. This in turn kept our external payments in balance, and gave George W. the money he needed for the Iraq war and beloved tax cuts. Neat, huh?

It is not just China and Japan, but also South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan that are reinvesting their trade surplusin treasury bonds. In other words, fast as you can sing "the West is in the Red," the U.S. budget deficit is now entirely dependent on Asian capital flows.

Here's the catch: what flows in could just as easily flow out.

In the long term, it does not make sound economic sense for these nations to keep their money in low-interest dollar bonds that annually lose ten percent of their value for every percent they earn in interest. It's the reason why most of the Asian central banks have publicly endorsed the idea of balancing their currency reserves by investing in Euros. Some of their analysts think even old-fashioned gold is a better bet as it continues steadily gain value against the dollar.

Any shift in this pattern hinges on investor confidence. Across the world, people buy dollars because they think the U.S. economy is basically sound, and that the U.S. government is stable and rational in its management of its economy and currency. Given the Bush administration's policies in recent years, both assumptions look shakier than ever.

The most ominous sign of trouble came from an unlikely source, the International Monetary Fund, which in the good old days was the sharp crusading edge of Washington's export of capitalism. Yet it is the IMF that is now crying foul at the administration's economic plans. Last week, a team of economists from the fund predicted that the U.S. could owe 40 percent of its total economy within a few years - a statistic that will take the United States to an Argentinean scale of indebtedness. Quite apart from the effect of this massive debt on the U.S., the IMF is worried about what will happen to the world economy when things come unstuck. The economists do not envisage a soft landing with a deficit on this scale.

Indeed, the United States' position is worse than it looks since its problems run deeper than the national level. Thanks to a federal system of government, much of the money that central governments control in other countries is spent in this country by state, county and city governments. And they are all facing growing deficits. It all adds up to a fiscal nightmare.

There are few reasons in the long run for foreigners to want to put their money in a rapidly depreciating currency that pays lousy interest rates. What's more, the Bush foreign policy doesn't exactly inspire confidence. The more the U.S. government acts as a solo rogue elephant in world affairs and disregards international law, the less secure foreign investors will be that they can get their money back on demand. There has already been an outflow of Arab money as the Sheikhs worry that between John Ashcroft and ambulance-chasing lawyers, their holdings can be easily frozen or confiscated.

And if the investors all get the jitters together, the U.S. will experience a snowball effect, similar to the meltdown in South East Asia and Argentina.

A run on the bank is a real possibility, and, as we know, these get out of control. It led to breadlines in Buenos Aires recently, and our very own Great Crash of 1929.

So why is George W. not more worried? As it turns out, in typical style, administration officials have seized this very scenario as yet another justification of their radical foreign policy. Some neoconservatives suggest that since the decline of US economic supremacy is imminent, it is more important than ever to extend our military control around the globe while we still can, even if it accelerates our economic decline.

It is a highly short-sighted view, but hardly surprising given that these are the same people who designed the Iraqi exit strategy. When it comes to national security, military bases are unfortunately unlikely to do the trick in this era of globalization. The Chinese don't need their nuclear arsenal to devastate the United States. All Premier Hu Jintao needs to do is to pick up the phone and shout "sell." Selling the T bonds would be far more effective and incur far less damage to China than a military confrontation. Of course the Chinese economy would suffer, but it would survive thanks to its relatively centralized, isolationist system.

Double-Talk... or maybe it's triple-talk.
BUSH TWICE TRIES TO MISLEAD AMERICA ABOUT THE ECONOMY IN 24 HOURS

Within a span of 24 hours, President Bush twice attempted to mislead the American people about the economy and his tax policies. On Friday, the president said, "Unemployment dropped today to 5.7% [which] is a positive sign that the economy is getting better."

But the president didn't add that the unemployment drop occurred not because the economy was getting better, but because continued weak job growth led 309,000 people to stop looking for work. As one nonpartisan economist said, "Most of these dropouts would still be in the labor force working or trying
to work if the economy were doing better," The president made no mention that only 1,000 total jobs were created in December - a "shockingly low number," where most economists had expected job growth to be around 100,000 to 150,000 for the month. 33 months after the beginning of the recession, this recovery is distinguished from all previous cycles of job contraction and resumed growth since 1939, according to the Economic Policy Institute, for not having fully recovered job levels to those above the pre-recessionary peak within 31 months from its start.

The following day, the president touted the same economic policies that helped create the unemployment crisis. Despite the bad economic news, he said, "Tax relief has got this economy going again," and bragged, "every American who pays income taxes got a tax cut." His use of the phrase "income tax," however, was tailored to divert attention from the millions of low-income American taxpayers (who pay payroll tax but not income tax) who received nothing. Bush's 2001 tax cut completely excluded 31% of all families in America. Similarly, Bush's 2003 tax cut completely excluded 31% of all taxpayers - including one million children of military families.

Read the Mis-Lead -- http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1342965&l=14381

There is more that is unseen than that which IS seen in this world... I really DO try to find some good, uplifting, encouraging stuff to put here from time to time. THIS (below) should stretch both the reader's mind and inspire hope ~! It's amazing stuff for sure.

Recent DNA Discoveries by Grazyna Fosar and Franz Bludorf... by von Barbel Mohr

The human DNA is a biological Internet and superior in many aspects to the artificial one. The latest Russian scientific research directly or indirectly explains phenomena such as clairvoyance, intuition, spontaneous and remote acts of healing, self healing, affirmation techniques, unusual light/auras around people (namely spiritual masters), mind's influence on weather patterns and much more. In addition, there is evidence for a whole new type of medicine in which DNA can be influenced and reprogrammed by words and frequencies WITHOUT cutting out and replacing single genes.

One can simply use words and sentences of the human language. This, too, was experimentally proven. Living DNA substance (in living tissue, not in vitro) will always react to language-modulated laser rays and
even to radio waves, if the proper frequencies are being used. This finally and scientifically explains why affirmations, autogenous training, hypnosis and the like can have such strong effects on humans and their bodies. It is entirely normal and natural for our DNA to react to language. While western researchers cut single genes from the DNA strands and insert them elsewhere, the Russians enthusiastically worked on devices that can influence the cellular metabolism through suitable modulated radio and light frequencies and thus repair genetic defects.

(I've been looking at the Kaballah / 72 names for God work by Rabbi Berg and that ties right into this information -- that there really IS something to "thought", prayer, etc., far above and beyond what we might imagine or can "prove").

Researchers in group consciousness have formulated the theory of Type I civilizations. A humanity that developed a group consciousness of the new kind would have neither environmental problems nor scarcity of energy. For if it were to use its mental power as a unified civilization, it would have control of the energies of its home planet as a natural consequence. And that includes all natural catastrophes. A theoretical Type II civilization would even be able to control all energies of their home galaxy. In my book "Nutze die
taeglichen Wunder," [author: von Barbel Mohr) I have described an example of this: Whenever a great many people focus their attention or consciousness on something similar like Christmas time, football world championship or the funeral of Lady Diana in England then certain random number generators in computers start to deliver ordered numbers instead of the random ones. An ordered group consciousness creates order in its whole surroundings. [http://noosphere.princeton.edu/fristwall2.html] When a great number of people get together very closely, potentials of violence also dissolve. It looks as if here, too, a kind of humanitarian consciousness of all humanity is created. At the Love Parade, for example, where every year about one million of young people congregate, there has never been any brutal riots as they occur for instance at sports events. The name of the event alone is not seen as the cause here. The result of an analysis indicated rather that the number of people was TOO GREAT to allow a tipping over to violence.

On a less positive, but equally interesting note, see: A theory about mad cow disease that is worth investigating. http://www.purdeyenvironment.com/RadioactivesonicTSE.htm

The story that just won't go away... 9/11 The media seems to think ALL of us have the attention span of a housefly -- thus all "nooze" stories are limited to 3 sentences. BUT, the 9/ll deal just won't go on off and die a natural death (poor choice of words). Maybe it's all those intrepid, grieving widows ?? In times past, armies have noted they'd much rather fight other men than warrior-women, the latter being more fierce and vicious. A REALLY, really good site is: http://www.septembereleventh.org/ for current news stories on this event.

Families Sue US, Reject 9/11 'bribe' [23 Dec 2003] - "I am doing this for my husband. He was a gentle man, and he was alive, trying to get out of that building that day. The dead. The dying. The smoke. The terror. No one should have suffered like that. I want accountability. I need answers."... [ more ]

Well, I guess my medication musta just kicked in, finally, because i'm REALLY on a roll today ~! 3 postings in just one day, yet. But, I found someone who is more of a curmudgeon (angry old person) than I am, at http://www.nasawatch.info/, towit:

WashingtonTimes.com article: "The case that Bush is a big spender is irrefutable. Federal spending on Bush's watch has sky-rocketed. According to the Heritage Foundation, the years 2000 to 2003 marked the biggest spending spree in the history of the United States, except for WWII. Total spending has gone up nearly 14 percent in Bush's first three years, and discretionary spending has gone up nearly 20 percent. Bush spent a pile not only on guns, but on butter. Non-defense spending has gone up by almost the same amount as defense spending, and defense spending constitutes barely a fifth of the total increase in spending from 2000 to 2003...Bush has an annoying habit of opposing proposals on the grounds they're bad policy or too expensive only to end up supporting them when the pressure gets too intense...He hasn't vetoed any spending bills and he hasn't proposed any huge spending cuts the way Ronald Reagan or Newt Gingrich would have."

And then there is... NASA pundit pans space agency...

NASA has a larger budget than nearly all of the world's civilian space agencies, combined (according to: www.euroconsult-ec.com). It also has one of the U.S. federal government's biggest procurement budgets. Robustly financing space endeavors is desirable but considering our record high $6.4 trillion dollar national debt, spending the money efficiently is crucial. Are we really doing enough to remedy examples of waste such as the exorbitant NASA space station cost overruns, the X-33 shuttle replacement billion dollar fiasco, the latest space shuttle disaster, the various Mars mission failures (http://www.spaceprojects.com/Mars/ ), the United States' substantial loss of launch marketshare throughout the world, and the spectacle of various technologically challenged U.S. satellite companies that are struggling to avoid bankruptcy? Meanwhile, the price of sending U.S. astronauts into space has gone nowhere but up over the past several decades even as it has gone down abroad (unlike foreign success rates).

Publicly funded competition could reinvent government. (since bushie is so keen on "privatizing" medicare, social security and social programs, let him start with NASA). Currently, aspiring reformers inside NASA cannot point to more cost-effective civilian competition when trying to justify reform from within.

NASA has a larger budget than nearly all of the world's civilian space agencies, combined (according to: www.euroconsult-ec.com). It also has one of the U.S. federal government's biggest procurement budgets. Robustly financing space endeavors is desirable but considering our record high $6.4 trillion dollar national debt, spending the money efficiently is crucial. Are we really doing enough to remedy examples of waste such as the exorbitant NASA space station cost overruns, the X-33 shuttle replacement billion dollar fiasco, the latest space shuttle disaster, the various Mars mission failures, the United States' substantial loss of launch marketshare throughout the world, and the spectacle of various technologically challenged U.S. satellite companies that are struggling to avoid bankruptcy? Meanwhile, the price of sending U.S. astronauts into space has gone nowhere but up over the past several decades even as it has gone down abroad (unlike foreign success rates).

Then, from http://www.spaceprojects.com/w/, there's this, a little past history: On December 1st, 1999 (two days before NASA´s 2nd of two 1999 Mars mission failures), Rich Robins asked President George W. Bush here in Washington D.C. if he shared his father´s dreams of getting humans to Mars. There´s live footage of the question, and President-elect Bush´s enjoyable initial reaction... at this site (spaceprojects).

When Bush was presented with NASA´s latest price for a crewed Mars mission (back then, approximately $50 billion), the president paused, and then said that Mars exploration seems like a project that corporations might be best suited to accomplish (instead of bureaucratic governmental entities). Tax incentives struck him as a fiscally prudent means of empowering corporations to accomplish our goals regarding the Red Planet.

According to EuroConsult-Ec.com, China's annual military and civilian space budgets (combined) totaled merely $100 million in 1998.   NASA's was $13.5 billion, and larger than those of the rest of the world's civilian
space agencies combined.

Why doesn't NASA get more bang for taxpayers' bucks?

And I need to revise my figures cited below, NASA'S budget is NOT $l3-l7 million/year, but that many Billions, and the "down payment on the bushie scheme is more like $800 million, rather than just $500 mil.

Not noted publically, yet, is how many more $600 million per flight Space Shuttle rides NASA hopes to impose upon taxpayers during the interim? Nearly two dozen, from:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/future/index.html

And since they all launch from Florida, whose brother benefits as governor (among other things)?