Social Networking and Politics

In the last few months I have seen an explosion of conservative political postings on Facebook. Some of these postings are propaganda at best and at worst bald face lies. Whether one loves or hates President Obama doesn't matter that much to me, we all have our own reason for our passions.

Where my passion for anger lays is with the congress all 535 members! A President whether Republican or Democrat can have the best plan ever, but the members of congress won't be willing to sit down and discuss it with him. Our President become effectively powerless. That is the position that President Obama is in now.

What strikes me as odd that more of the "Joe the plumber" voters don't see the real difference between Republican campaign promises and Fox News spin and what they actually do.

Here is the spin that was posted on Facebook:

 Shared from http://www.facebook.com/iamconservative

When I saw this it didn't look right. I did some checking and this is what I found.

National Debt as a Percent of National Income @ zFacts

 United States public debt @ Wikipedia

And what about the interest on this dept... Check out http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/ir/ir_expense.htm

The point I'm trying to make is, how can one call themselves conservative when they seem to be so liberal with the facts.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Every life passes milestones that causes one to look back and reflect. This year has been full of such milestones for this writer. Every event has sparked an round of soul searching and self-examination along with the customary trip down memory lane.

My journey through this life has been filled with wonderful blessings and for each one I am grateful. They have all culminated in to making me the person I am today. In keeping with a new found purpose I will be changing the format and tone of this blog and taking a different approach.

To dedicate these changes I want to once again share with the readers one of my favorite prayers.

Thank you, Earth, for your abundant bounty.
I gratefully receive your blessings.
For the air I breathe, I thank the plants and trees.
The air, the fire, the water, and the earth.
Thank you for sustaining my life and nourishing me.
For the blessings of loved ones who help me along life’s path, I am thankful.
My life is full to overflowing with gifts of ancestors.
Courageous souls who survived, and made my life possible.
Thank you great spirits of the cosmos, for the lessons I sometimes try to avoid, but which I need.
And for the joys and pains which open my spirit and expand my heart.
I am grateful for health, abundance, and challenges, each unique.
Thank you all who have touched my life’s journey.
Each new day is a gift, to which I pledge the best of myself.
For the blessings of life’s great circle continue in me.
From the cave to the stars, I have always been and will always be.
I am rich in the things that matter.
With my deepest gratitude, I offer my blessings to all on this day.

~ from Llewellyn's "Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac,"

In the spirit of thankfulness and blessing I want to extend the same to all the wonderful people in my life now and those that I will meet in the future.

Blessed Be

So Far

We we are passed the 100 day mark in the Obama presidency and to date I have very little that concerns me.

Yes the economy is still in the toilet and we are still in two wars. However as far as someone trying to do the job he was hired to do, President Obama is at least trying to do the job we hired him to do.

I only have one major issue with this presidency and that is their unwillingness to investigate and prosecute the torture and illegal rendition of "terrorist", war crimes of the last administration. We have to do this, no matter how disrupting it is to the political system. We can not ignore the crimes that the Bush presidency committed. It seem that every night when I watch the news there are new allegations against the last administration.

Without the American people accepting responsibility for the action of our elected officials, and taking the easy way out, will not mend our standing in the world community. We must police ourselves before we can assume the right to police others.

Will someone please shut Dick Chaney up! He was scary as vice-president and now we can all see why no Democrat ever wish harm to George Bush. Dick Cheney was too scary to even contemplate. Now he is acting like the insane megalomaniac we all knew him to be.

His constant appearances on the weekend news shows is a good example why he needs to be muzzled, he is a freaking embarrassment to this county. However I will tune in when he finally has a final full blown psychotic break.

Please, fellow citizens of the Republican persuasion, Cheney and Rush are not the image you want projected to the rest of the world as to what a Republican stands for. Find some new leaders and quick, or they may just be the death of your party.

Why I will vote for Obama

I have been sick the last few days and have been watching the news channels CNN and MSNBC non-stop. Even with all that endless chatter, I have not budged one bit on my reasons why I will vote for the Democratic candidate.

My reason has been the same since the primaries when I voted against Hilary Clinton. In fact since the announcement of Sarah Palin to the Republican I have been even more convinced that the only person I could in good conscience vote for is Barack Obama.

My reason has nothing to do with the who is ready to take the 3 AM call, or that he is a Democrat. My reason is very simple, who do I want to represent me to the world.

The president is the first and foremost "face of America" and we need a new face. We are a country of immigrants and yet we have had the face of blue blood aristocracy for far too long. Barack is a first generation American of an immigrant and by that he has more in common with millions of Americans that the other candidates.

When one looks at the rest of the world you see more people of color than white men of wealth and privilege. Even though Barack grew up in relative comfort of an American home, compared to the rest of the worlds population, he also didn't grow up in the isolated world of wealth as did our current president.

Do I think this man will drasticlly change American foreign policy, NO. Will he solve the problems of American relations with the Middle East, NO. Will he solve our energy issues, NO. Will he bring back the heady prosperity that Americans believe they deserve, NO, and he shouldn't, but that is another post. Will he get us out of Iraq, MAYBE, or into to Iran, DON'T KNOW.

But I don't think that he will make things worse, and he maybe able to make redeem the US in a small way with the rest of the world. I also don't believe that he would be overly reactionary and would resort to maximum diplomacy before acting. That is good enough for me. I also know that the world can not take one more minute of neo-con policy and domination.

Wobblies, Black Panthers and Other Subversives of the 20th Century

I just finished watching the movie The Wobblies which I really enjoyed. One of the more ironic points that I noticed was the propaganda tactics used against the IWW and how these tactics have been repeated throughout the 20th century and still haunt us today.

I had to really think about the message and internal nature of the IWW to figure out what was so threatening to the status quo. It is hard to see it unless one looks at other organizations and movements that were hunted down and criminalize out of existence in the last 90 years. Two other organizations that came to mind was he Black Panthers and American Indian Movement (AIM).

Some would argue that the latter two were civil rights inspired where the IWW was a labor movement. I disagree, there were many civil rights issues in the IWW movement, including Free Speech, the Right to Assemble and demand for humane treatment both in the work place and living conditions.

What do, 5,000 Bisbee Arizona copper miners loaded into boxcars in the summer and hauled 170 miles to Columbus, New Mexico and dump in the desert and AIM have in common? I would say a whole lot! And what might Huey Newton and Bobby Seale have in common with Big Bill Haywood, Daniel De Leon, Eugene V. Debs and Mary Harris Jones "Mother Jones" other than being prosecuted, and vilified for their beliefs.

So what make these groups such a threat? The short list is this:

1. Non-centralized leadership that can not be cajoled into meeting the establishment half way.
2. Internal identity, where each member see the other members as an extension of him or herself.
3. Internal mutual aide structures, that allows the members to sustain themselves when they are in direct confrontation with authority.
4. Directly challenge the illusion that power comes from the top down and is granted by the benevolence of the establishment.

These are in my opinion the real threat to the established power and wealth structure around the world. In a time when it seems that there is no real leadership in our midst, I like to look back and find inspiration from these past bright points of leadership and try to figure out what did and can they teach us about ourselves?

Are we really so easy to scare into compliance or are we not at the end of our rope yet? Are we afraid of losing, and what do we convent so much that we can't see the shadows for what they really are and know that all we need to do is stand up and turn around to see the light of our own reality.

I would like to see some comments that address the issue of; what scares us into compliance or just indifference to when exposed to radical and non-establishment approved ideas?

I will start with an admission that I often fear that any revolution would only replace one establishment with a new one, faces may change but the goal for power and wealth would remain the same.

Where in the world is Idaho Blue?

Maxed Out

Here is a follow-up video documentary for the last post.

Decadence

Here are 6 20-minute documentaries on Decadence and a close look at ourselves.

Take some time to watch these, then post a comment. I am interested in what others think about these videos.

Episode 1 - Money:

Episode 2 - Sex:

Episode 3 - Democracy

Episode 4 - Education

Episode 5 - Family

Episode 6 - God

Technology for the Masses

Okay, so I need a place to rant and what better place than in the Blog World. In the process maybe I will hit a nerve or two or just maybe help the lights come on for others.

I have been a computer tech for the last 10 years. I have mostly worked on computers for home users and small businesses, and have been through 4 generations of Microsoft Windows Operating System, including the whole Y2K thing. With each and every new release of Windows I get a flurry of job requests for upgrades. The problem is they are for upgrades two or more generations back to the last release and not the new current release (Win 98 1st ed. to XP Home, after Vista release). The people I deal with are on very limited budgets and cannot afford to replace/upgrade computer equipment and software at the same time, the cost which sometimes runs as high as $500 for everything, parts, software, and my fee.

So then they are left with the decision of whether to upgrade or buy a new cheap system from Wal-Mart, which neither one they can afford, and the later I do not recommend. Here's the rub, they all insist on Windows because that is what they know and everything they are exposed to promotes the use of Microsoft products. Even though I could solve their problems once and for all with a free copy of any Linux distribution and a $50 installation service fee.

My view of the computer/internet/software/operating system issue is this: home computers are mainly access points to the internet, otherwise they devolve into glorified typewriters/calculators/game machines. If you need to play games get a PS2 or X-Box, you really don't need a $3,000 game machine when you can get one for $4oo. It has been my experience that very few people actually use the full power of their CPU's and Memory, at least the ones I deal with. The biggest consumer of your computer's computing power is the operating system, second would be highly graphical games or programs (like CADs). So I have come to the conclusion that 100% of my "home" customers could be using a 800 MHz processor and 500 MB of memory (current industry standard is 2.0 to 2.6 GHz Dual Core with 1 to 2 GB of memory). Because very few of them do much more than run an accounting program, type documents, send email, and surf the net, why in the world do they need all that computing power? The answer is simple, to run the new Windows' operating system.

I view the internet as a dynamic interactive library, that includes mail order catalogs, games, global communication of messages and ideas, along with information, education and news. In my opinion the internet is by it's very nature the ultimate in the expression of free speech (blogger.com). It can also be used as the ultimate library (wikipedia.com). However, one only needs a broadband internet connection to experience these things to their fullest, not a high powered computer.

I personally don't have anything against Bill Gates, but by all the gods, how much money does one man need? Sure he does the Africa AIDs thing, which isn't a bad concept, but I am getting off point. The sick part of Bill Gate's wealth is that you and I have handed it to him unquestioned, and continue to do so with out thinking, even though we have other choices.

Many of my readers boycott Wal-Mart for the same reasons we should be boycotting Microsoft but we don't and I am just as guilty as the next PC user. May of us will go out of our way to buy our goods from any other source, preferably locally owned, instead of Wal-Mart. But do we take the time to learn how to use another operating system other than Windows, probably not. I have heard all the excuses why this won't work, and have used many myself. But just like the excuses of going to Wal-Mart because it is convenient, cheaper, they have what we need, just doesn't wash with Microsoft or Wal-Mart. We know better and are just to lazy to take the steps to change the situation.


Enter the Apple users, if you are a Apple user, good! That is at least one baby step away from the Microsoft Oligarchy. However you are still caught in the capitalist/corporate controlled computer tech world and that is what I would like to see changed the most. Apple users have one additional corporate layer to contend with that Microsoft users don't, their hardware is also manufactured in large part by Apple, and Microsoft doesn't BUILD computers, but for Apple users both their software and hardware come form the same company.

Information should be free, access to information should be free, tools to access information should be free and hardware should be affordable to the point that ANY one can obtain it, or Non-Profits and NGO's can offer access to this information to the very poorest.

Whenever I hear of the Apple or Microsoft Corporations giving away free computers to schools or children's charities, I just cringe. This may seem on the surface as an altruistic act, but is just a way for these companies to create more future consumers of their products, and to continue the corporation's strangle hold on our access to information.

I saw a show on TV once about these computer techs that wanted to see how much background one needs to use modern computers. They set up a internet connected computer kiosk in the slums of Calcutta, mounted a hidden camera and walked away. They found that with in 30 minutes, children as young as 8 were doing web searches and signing up for online e-mail accounts. Within a week these same young children had passed on what they knew to many of their parents and the parents were doing the same for even older members of the community.

What amazed me about this was how total unintimidated these children and adults were in using the computer kiosk. When the researchers did interviews later they found that many didn't know anything about computers prior to the installation of the kiosk or even knew what a computer was. Which is the very hurtle I run into on every computer job, how intimidated we are of technology even though we live in a technologically advanced society. New technology scares the hell out of us and we are intimidated by what we all ready have.

A few years ago, maybe about 8 year ago, I tried to address this issue. I found I was doing a lot of jobs for senior citizens, and much of it was really basic stuff, like setting up new computer their children had sent them and installing new applications software. So I got together with the senior center and the community center and offered a two day class in basic computer and internet usage. One of the most uttered comments I heard during those two days is: "I am not smart like you" or "I am too dumb to figure out this computer." This really got on my nerves, I started responding "You are not dumb, you were smart enough to seek my help, and together we can do anything."

Let me introduce you to Linus Torvalds, if you know who this man is you are my brother/sister in arms against Microsoft. Linus is a "together we can do anything" kind of guy and the creator of Linux and director of the Linux community.

If you don't know what Linux is let me offer this brief explanation: Linux is the little brother operating system to Unix (the software that powers the internet). Linux is a simplified version of Unix and does a really good job at powering everything from PDA's, cell phones, desktop and laptop PC's to business and internet servers. The biggest difference between Linux and Windows is that; Linus in his infinite wisdom, released Linux under a Open Source License, which mean that the base source code that runs Linux cannot be sold by anyone.

The most unique aspect of Linux is it is community driven. Programmers that want to work on Linux can help with projects that are already under development or start new ones and users can make requests for things they would like to have available. Linux doesn't come in just one flavor either there are literally dozens of different Linux distributions, you may have heard about Red Hat or SUSE by Novell, those are Linux "distros" that have been packaged by companies that have their own added functions and applications that are sold. But these very same companies have Open Source version of their software available on the internet for free. But just because you have heard of them doesn't mean these are the best to use. In the Linux world distros are use specific, which means that some are better for servers and others are better for desktops. Red Hat and SUSE are more for business than personal home use, and that is why you may have heard of them. Advertising make sense if you have some thing to sell, but when it is free what incentive is there to spend money to advertise?

What could be more democratic, anti-capitalist, anti-corporate or anarchist then people working together often for free to offer the world free access to information and technology. The Open Source and Linux communities are a very good example of how people can produce goods and services and self-govern at the same time. I will grant that money/currency is exchanged on some levels to fuel this community, but it is microscopic compared to Microsoft and Apple. If Linux should ever become the prevailing operating system for technology, the money exchange would still be less than today, due to the fact that the very source code is un-ownable.

Met Tux, Tux is the name of the Linux penguin logo. I think he is much more pleasant to look at than that stupid Windows logo or the MSN butterfly. Not only is he/she the logo but also a mascot for a whole community of Linux programmers and users. I have even seen whole websites dedicated to the "adventures of Tux".

But back to the original point of this rant, because of our conditioning through advertising and our fear of new technology we need to make a concerted effort to change the way we think about how we access information and technology. All it takes is making a conscious choice on what we choose to support. Microsoft's new Vista release gives us an opportunity to give a vote of no confidence to the current way things are done in regards to our access to information. The reasons not to upgrade to Vista far out weigh the reasons not to migrate to Linux. Just google "Windows Vista Linux" and you will find hundreds if not thousands of tech articles on the short comings of Microsoft's newest product, which also include privacy and security issues.

So you are scared, apprehensive, or just confused, that's okay, you don't have to take the Open Source/Linux plunge all at once, you can take your time and get use to the idea. Take baby-steps, we all did when we got our first computers. We can do it again, only this time you already know how to navigate the internet and send email, so the Open Source and Linux communities are accessible to you. If you have a broadband internet connection even better, faster downloading of free software. CD or DVD burner, you are in business, most Linux distros offer LiveCDs or LiveDVDs that can be run on your system without having to install or get rid of you current Windows installation.

The final step before becoming a fully-certified Linux user is dual-boot, where you have both Windows and Linux loaded on one computer and you choose which one you want to use when you start the computer. Although this may seem like a way to learn Linux and still have access to your Windows comfort zone, it is often more complicated then just going to Linux for good. I have tried this and found that it is much simpler to get rid of Windows all together, then to be a dual-booter.

Let me just suggest some Open Source programs to start with that all run under Windows:

Firefox; Firefox is an internet browser and is a much better program than Microsoft Internet Explorer, although you cannot completely delete IE off your Windows based computer (it is used to search for file on the computer) you don't have to use it on the internet. Get Firefox here.

Thunderbird; Thunderbird is the email program that replaces Microsoft's Outlook Express, again a superior program to Microsoft's and FREE. Get Thunderbird here.


openOffice.org; How many of your are sick and tired of having to pay $200 plus for Microsoft's Office upgrades, or want a powerful office suite and can't afford the $300 for Word and Excel. Boy oh, Boy, are you going to love this, openOffice.org offers just that and more for FREE. I have used this program for over two years and don't miss MS Office at all. What makes this even better is that it can save and open just about any document from any other office suite, including MS Office. Get openOffice here.

Gimp; Need a graphics editor and don't have tons of cash to buy Photoshop, Gimp is a good FREE alternative. I do a lot of photo editing and create custom content for The Sims 2 using just Gimp, and eventhough I have Photoshop CS2, I seldom use it. Get Gimp for Windows here.

Gmail; Although not Open Source, if you are using Hotmail or MSN mail dump it. Gmail is only available by invitation, however if you have a blogger.com account you may be able to get or already have a Gmail account. Good for you, now use it. Google in the past has gone to great lengths to keep the internet accessible (China) and email privacy secure (US). More recently Google has given in on some issues that I am not too pleased with, but by in large they continue to stick to the principals of free access to information I mentioned earlier.

SourceForge.net; This is one of the better know Open Source web communities, they offer literally thousands of Open Source programs and many run on Windows based systems. So before you go to the office supply store, Best Buy or Amazon to by applications software, test drive a few Open Source alternative first from SourceForge. Go to SourceForge.net

DesktopLinux.com; For news, information, sources and tutorials on becoming a Linux desktop user, this is a wonderful website. Go to DesktopLinux.com

If you do choose to use any of these program and you like them. I encourage you to donate a few dollars to show your appreciation for the hard work that went into the programming.

The point is that we don't have to be held hostage by Microsoft's business plan or buy into the technology is expensive mind set. As a computer tech I could take all the "old" systems that will become obsolete under the new Windows Vista (which by some estimates could be over 50% of all the systems in use today) and resurrect them using Linux and make them usable for a very long time at minimal cost.

We do have a choice and we have the power to bring the Microsoft Empire to it's knees, we just need to start today with the person in the mirror, then spread the word, communicate and educate.

Addition 3/21/08: I just found this two nights ago: Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Computers, put up a customer suggestion forum, with in the first month he had over 70,000 people made requests for Dell Desktop computers that come preloaded with Linux and that Dell should provide technical support for these Linux computers. The demand is out there we just need more sources for computers with Linux and support for those computers.

No Surprise: Barack Obama is Not the Right Choice

Barak Obama is continuing to show the kind of political pandering that many politicians have come to expect of themselves. Barak is perpetuating an unfortunate reality that in order to get elected in this society of the spectacle politicians will continue to forfeit their moral and ethical principles to special interest groups and their money. Without campaign finance laws that would bar politicians for running a campaign with private funds and make all politicians compete with the exact same amount of money, it is probable that clever politicos like Obama and Clinton will get elected for their charm, smiles, pandering and demographic novelty. This reality, however, is nothing new. Throughout American electoral history there has been a gap between public opinion and the public policy adopted by our politicians.

Obama is not “anti-war” but instead “anti-Bush-wars.” We must learn more about the "true" nature of Obama's "audacity." Obama has been pandering to the wealthy American Jew Society for their support and as a result reiterating widely discredited propaganda about this past year’s intense violence between Hizbollah and Israel. Obama is calling for increasing Israeli military funding, missile defense, etc. All the while, he has done nothing to denounce Israelis violence and crimes against the Palestinians.

Elsewhere, Obama is against a National Health Care Plan, including a single-payer system like that in Canada. His reason for such a position is that it would hurt the employees of the private insurance industry. Obama’s pandering to the massively wealthy private insurance companies easily explains this illogical position.

Obama should also be called out for all variety of other inconsistencies in his rhetoric and misrepresentation to the American public. For that matter, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton need to check their zeal for having an African American elected at all costs, considering their roles championing social justice causes for the past several decades.

It is unfortunate that the enthusiasm many Americans have felt towards Obama for seeming to have brought candor and forthrightness to the political discussion (i.e. admitting to having smoked and inhaled pot, admitting to a smoking addiction, etc.) is underscored by the huge missteps he has made in actually trying to represent American public opinion.

Most importantly, from the perspective of a revolutionary seeking deep, genuine social change, a vote for Obama, Clinton, et. al. will likely prove to be a gigantic step towards the breeding of more political and economic complacency. Lest we forget, Bill Clinton did more to advance rabid corporate globalization than any other president. Clinton was an ardent free-trader and proponent of the “Washington Consensus.” On the domestic front, Clinton was only supportive of an organized labor force in word, as he was extremely friendly to Big Business. Sadly, four more years of President Bush may be a much more radicalizing force than the lulling effect Obama, Clinton, et. al. will likely have on the American public.

Idaho Blue: When Hell Freezes Over

Idaho Blue: When Hell Freezes Over

I attended the Al Gore presentation last night in Boise, ID. The Taco Bell Arena at BSU was packed, and very few of the 10,000 seats were vacant.

I am glad that I was able to attend, and glad that so many of my fellow Idahoians also attended. Although the presentation was basiclly what we all saw in An Inconvientant Truth. Mr. Gore did add some very specific information concerning Idaho, and some of the impacts we will experience in this state.

America's Forty Year War

Last week the Free-Market News Network ran a following headline: "Cheney Says War May Last Forty Years." In their own estimations we are in a multi-generational war. Of course this is what the Neo-Con's set out to do in the first place, planning began back in the late 80's early 90's. For those that don't know what I am talking about, go to Project For A New American Century, and read their manifesto.
The insidious part is, not only will the US Army continue to recruit our sons, but also our grandson, and future great-grandson's. Forty years ago today we were fighting in Vietnam, Johnson was in the White House and student demonstrations were beginning to become common and I was four years old. Think about it, in America today, things that happened just ten years ago are considered ancient history and have no bearing on our lives. Can the American people even contemplate what changes our society will have to undergo to sustain a war for forty years? Consider the changes we went through in the last six, or the twelve years of Vietnam.
The prospect of decades of war makes me question some basic assumptions that are drilled into us on a daily basis since this war began. What if the paradigm was different, let me start with a simple one; Strong (big) military makes the country strong. What if we turn that assumption on it's head and we believe that strong/big military is the sign of a weak country. Maybe that is in truth the case that a country such as ours that has no nation that can match us militarily, and uses our military to extract revenge, revenue and resources from other smaller nations, is in fact a weak nation.
What is it that makes a country strong, being able to force our will on any group of people we choose or is it the quality of life the citizens of this nation could enjoy? I believe that the former makes our nation come off as a bully; So which is it?
At what point does war and our military become too costly, currently 49% of our budget goes towards wars, both past and present, and that does not include off budget items allocated for the Iraq and Afghan Wars, which for 2006 were nearly 120 billion dollars, with almost no money allocated for reconstruction costs. In 2004 the US spent about $499 billion on the military and wars, the ENTIRE rest of the world spent $500 billion. More up to date numbers may show that the US is currently spending more than the combined total for the rest of the planet.
What about the human costs, over 3,000 American soldiers have died and more than 150,000 Iraqis. But does anyone collect the numbers of American citizens that have died here at home because there were cuts to human services, medical care for the poor and elderly, absence of funds for heating assistance. I heard on CNN that 58 people died because of the ice storms last week. How many of them where casualties of the military spending sucking the emergency assistance coffers dry? What about the victims of Katrina, how many more could have been saved, and how many more could have returned to their homes by now if it wasn't for this country being bankrupted from wars past and present.
How many of us are prepared for forty more years of the same? At some point we will all crumble under the immense weight of military spending, the cracks are already apparent. How we as a community survives such a collapse is in our hands now. Will we be like the ancient Britons and continue looking towards Rome to save us from our problems, or will we rise to the occasion and take back our lives and country from the overwhelming military burden.

Don't Dew it!

Sitting here taking a little break from bookkeeping for my business, you know that end of year drudgery. I was just think back on the past year and thought I would share a personal story. I usually write opinion posts but this one is a little more personal.

A year ago I was sitting in this same chair when I suddenly became dizzy and fell to the floor. It was late a night and no one else was awake so I laid there until the dizziness went away then carefully got myself up and went to bed. I felt much better the next morning and went back to what I was doing the night before. By mid-afternoon I was light-head again, went and got a glass of water and laid down for awhile. I started to feeling better, so I had some more water and went back to work. An hour later I was dizzy again, then I realized I was on my third Mountain Dew Big Slam of the day. I started to wonder if that could have something to do with my dizziness.

Since 1996 when I bought my first computer, I have had either a Mountain Dew or Pepsi bottle sitting right beside it. Getting all ramped-up on sugar and caffeine seemed to help me stay focused on what I was doing on the computer. In 2000 I started to have burning and tingling in my feet, so I went to the doctor. I was told that I have neuropathy caused by the large amount of sugar I was consuming from 3 to 4 big slams a day. I was also informed that if I didn't stop drinking the soda I would eventually get diabetes. So I limited my soda to some extent but by 2006 I was back to 3 to 4 big slams a day.

On the second day after I passed out I tried a little experiment, no sugar for 24 hours, just water and ice tea with no sugar. I was amazed at how good I felt, other than my cravings for that citrus tang of Mountain Dew. I started putting some lemon juice in my tea and that did the trick no more cravings.

I went to the doctor to make sure I was alright and didn't have diabetes, and had a complete physical. I told him about the passing out and was informed that it was probably hypoglycemic shock. If it ever happens again to call the ambulance. My tests all came back good, I didn't have diabetes, or any other ailments. So I resolved to start taking better care of myself.

One thing I realized when I stopped drinking soda was that I was hungry. I was consuming 1700 calories per day in soda alone, with the high caffeine and sugar, I just didn't feel hungry. So I started to make myself eat real food. Since my family has started shrinking, I just don't feel like cooking anymore. So I decided to try another experiment, a diet if you want to call it that.

For breakfast I would drink one Odwalla juice, like Superfood, or Mo' Beta. For lunch I would have a Lean Cuisine Spa Meal or one of the smaller Lean Cuisine frozen dinners. For Dinner I would have one of the large Lean Cuisine Meals, that have a dessert. My number one rule for the first 4 months was, NO high fructose corn syrup in anything I consumed. When summer rolled around I did allow myself 2 pints of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia per week. I did this from January on until September. By September I had lost 35 pounds, going from 205 to 170. Now that may sound like I am still fat, but unlike most women I am almost 6 feet tall. So 170 is still a little on the heavy side for me, 150 being ideal. I am definitely in a much better shape than I was a year ago.

In September, I had to travel out of state for the funeral of my uncle, that is when I had my first relapse, and started drinking Mountain Dew. By Thanksgiving I was back on track, then another family emergency and I had to travel out of state again. Again I had another relapse, then the whole christmas holiday season with family coming in from out of state, and this time they brought the Mountain Dew into my house. It has been two weeks since they left and I am still drinking the Dew. Sometimes it just seems easier to drink it than to fight it.

First thing tomorrow I will go back to my diet and hopefully kick the habit one more time. I have to kick it because I don't want to get diabetes. One thing I fear the most is becoming a human pincushion, with all those sugar tests and insulin shots. No thank you!

Just a word to anybody out there reading this, especially young people, don't Dew it! Don't get hooked on the sugar from soda. It can kill you just like tabacco, alcohol or drugs. So I challenge you, try it for a week, no soda, no high fructose corn syrup. It is a tricky game, because when you start reading the labels you will be amazed and how much sugar is hidden in the food we buy.

When Hell Freezes Over

There was a time not to long ago, if you said that Al Gore could sell out a 10,000 seat auditorium in Boise, Idaho, most environmentalist would respond with: "When Hell Freezes Over! I guess hell doesn't need to freeze over, just need the polar ice caps to melt.

The bearer of An Inconvenient Truth is coming to Idaho, and guess what? We want him! That's right Idaho; perceived bastion of environmental indifference sold out 10,000 tickets to Al Gore's scheduled speaking engagement, Monday January 22nd.

As reported at newwest.com 10,000 tickets were sold in under 8 hours, that is after the originally planned 1,200 seats sold out in 10 minutes. The New West reported that there were long lines. That was not my experience when I purchased my tickets at the BSU Student Union Building. I arrived about 12:30 pm, took my son to the bookstore to purchase his books for next semester then ambled down to the ticket desk. We did have to stand in line while the two people ahead of us purchased their tickets for the Chieftain's Concert that was held last night. But that only took about 10 minutes.

Since my son is a student at BSU he used his student ID to get free tickets for me and himself, I also purchased 4 extra tickets for a friend's family. So maybe this whole Global Climate Change thing is catching on-- even in Idaho.

Another event took place last week that I never imagined would ever happen that didn't also include ice and hell was that Idaho's former Govenor Dirk Kempthorn, and currently the Secertary of the Interior, suggested last week that polar bears should be added to the threatened species list.

Now our neighbors, Montana is debating a bill in the state legislature concerning carbon sequestering, and other ways to reduce CO2 emissions? Can this be true?

Of course there are still plenty of people that still don't get it. A friend and fellow environmentalist from Montana told me this story about a conversation she had with a person she knew.

Environmental Newbie: "Did you know that there could be another ice age in Europe?'
My Friend: "Are you talking about the North Atlantic conveyor shutting down?"
Environmental Newbie: "Yeah, did you know that it will cause a ice age in Europe?"
My Friend: "Yeah, I do."
Environmental Newbie: "You know what that means don't you?"
My Friend: "No.?"
Environmental Newbie: "Everyone over there will have to move. You know where they will want to go don't you?"
My Friend: "Africa?"
Environmental Newbie: "No, they will want to come here."
My Friend: "Why will they want to come here?"
Environmental Newbie: "Because, they will be having a ice age IN Europe!"
My Friend: "If there is a ice age in Europe, won't there be one here too?
Environmental Newbie: "No."

I guess the concept of GLOBAL climate change is still lost on some. Al Gore need to sell out about 300 million more seats to his lecture then maybe everyone will get it!

Law & Disorder

From SFGate.com:

The Pentagon has drafted a manual for upcoming detainee trials that would allow suspected terrorists to be imprisoned or put to death using hearsay evidence and coerced testimony.

According to a copy of the manual obtained by The Associated Press, a terror suspect's defense lawyer cannot reveal classified evidence in the person's defense until the government has a chance to review it.

Complete Article Here

This article from SFGate.com makes me think about why our country is in serious trouble. I am no legal genius but I do understand history well enough to understand why the framer's of the constitution included the Bill of Rights for those accused of crimes.

I am a avid consumer of the Law & Order series on television, I know that this is fiction, but it does show to some extent the workings of the US justice system. Or rather how it is suppose to work. On the show they portray the constant tension in the system between the desire for retribution and vengeance by victims, public opinion, and law enforcement and the rule of law. The public's perception that our justice system is broken, is a combination of media exploitation of our fears and an overwhelmed system.

The issue of how the rule of law is applied to "suspected terrorist" is one that I feel a need to comment on.

"[A] bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse."
--- Thomas Jefferson December 20, 1787

I would challenge that the greatness of a country is measured on how the rule of law is applied to anyone accused of a crime. On 9/11 when we learned that the FBI and other law enforcement organizations were conducting round-ups of Arabs whether citizens or not, made my blood boil. Now we sit here almost six years later, with all we are allowed to know about Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, and other horrors out of Afghanistan, and now this. How can anyone contend we are even a civilized country, when we participate in, condone or simply ignore the actives our government is engaged in under our name?

Once a bell is rung, it can't be unrung. The same holds true with precedence in the law. Everyone of us should be furious at the this administration for the way inwhich enemy combatants, terror suspects, or whatever the latest buzzword is for US political prisoner. The point being that the people being tried before a military court today, maybe Iraqis, but sometime in the not to very distant future could very well be Americans.

Pictures like this one make me sick, it reminds me of a slave ship in the middle passage, and it makes me want nothing more then to burn that tainted flag hanging over these people's heads. If our current administration continues to insist that these people cannot be tried in a civil court and afforded all the legal right afforded in the Bill of Rights, then they are in fact saying, our country is finished, over, lights out! It is then in fact they are saying it is time for a new American Revolution!

Year of the Fire Pig

So another year begins, while searching for a topic to comment on for this month's post I found that according to the Chinese calender on February 18th the year of the Fire Pig begins. This is not a very pleasant zodiac according to www.astrolog.com.au.

This is a sign that represents the clash between the water and fire signs. This implies that when situations are volatile they can easily spiral out of control, especially when it involves water. In Celtic mythology the sow symbolizes the earth, the great mother of all, mother earth. Hence, we are in a year that combine mother earth, water, fire and volatility.

With the current weather situation across much of the country it would seem that the year of the fire pig has started early, with massive ice storms all across the country.

Could this be the year that we American's get the message of global climate change. I often ponder what natural disaster it will take to make it undeniable to every American. Not that I look forward to such events. I would rather that no one would have to indure such a trial. But I am not so naive to think that it will take anyless to make us change our ways.

One of the other features of the Chinese pig zodiac is that the pig himself loves freedom and beauty and is the eternal optimist.

It is in this vein that I wish to start the new year, optimistic, love beauty and to fight for freedom.

No Coke! Pepsi!

After posting the last article I had a long phone conversation with Che Bob from Lonestone Revolution. After our hour long discussion I wish to modify my comment that we need a third party of moderates, and leave the far right and far left to define these positions.

What Che Bob pointed out to me is that we Americans live in a political "Samurai Deli". Those of us that remember the early days of SNL, John Belushi played a samurai that owned a deli, and the customers could only have one kind of drink not other, the catch line was "No Coke! Pepsi!"

We basically have a political process of no choice. Where else in our live would we accept only two choices for anything. Go to the convenience store and there at least 14 different beverage choices, go out to dinner and unless you live in a one-horse town you have literally dozen of choices for your dinning experience.

So why do "we the people" accept a political menu with only two choices. If we are going to be a wedge issue voting country then we should have a political party for all of these issues. If your big issue is universal heath care then you should belong to the People's Health Party. Once that is accomplished, change your party to the next issue that is most important to you.

With more political parties, then "we the people" can frame the debate, not have the debate framed by one or the other of the existing parties.

Of course some would say that a new party can't compete with the entrenched two party system. That may be true, there are definite changes that need to be made to our political process, but isn't our country supposed to be the flagship of democracy on the planet. Why can't we make some simple changes that will make us a true example of democracy?

Some of the changes that I would suggest are:

1. Nationalize the elections; Take back the election process from PAC's, lobbyist, corporations and special interest. This is the only logical way to make this happen nationalize political funding. We the people pay for the results of the who is elected why can't we pay for the elections themselves. Each candidate would get exactly the same amount of funds from the public treasury, no limit to the number of canidates that can apply for the funding, just that the candidate have petition with 1% of the population of the district inwhich they are runnung for office. Once the candidate has a signed petition then they can get public funds for their campaign.
   
   Additionally, if the airwaves are in fact the property of the public then why can't the public demand a lease payment for all the profits the telecommunications companies make from the use of these airwaves. Each telecommunications company can pay us back by giving air time to each candidate, and airing and producing 5 debates for the candidates.
   
   
2. More representives at the fedral and state level, I believe that we should at least have double the number of representives in the House of Representives as we do now. Same holds true in all state houses. How can we have a representive government when we have only 400 representing 300 million. Better yet why not use established geographical devisions to set up representive districts, geremandering is a big problem with entrenching poticitian into life time jobs, why not use the counties and parishes to define the House districts on the fedral level and school districts on the state level.
   
   
3. Pay raises for congress by refererendum only; why should our public servant be in control of their own paychecks? Where else in this country would a sane employer give the employees the ablity to write their own paychecks? We need to have some more control over how much or public servants are renumerated for their service.

I guess the basic message that I am trying to say is RED and BLUE isn't enough of a choice anymore we need an entire rainbow of political choices, just like we do when we go to the deli and have more than one choice of drinks.

No Red or Blue

I have had a few days to consider the out come of Election 2006. The amazing fact of this election is that less than 35% of this countries citizens voted and that control of the senate came down to less than 10,000 votes. This in a country of 300 million. That means that the population of one large town, held the power to decide the course of this nation.

When one looks at the country colored by county it looks a lot more purple that red or blue. This in a country were only one out of three people vote. How would the map color change if we had more than 70% of us voting. Would it be more one or the other, or would the color blend even more.

Perhaps the reason so few of us vote is because we really don't have a political party that represent the true feeling of the US voters. Why can't the moderates of both the Republican and Democratic parties come together on there common ground and have a moderate party, and leave the extremes to the two parties we now have.

The Neo-Republicans could pursue their far right agenda and the Neo-Democrats could define what a liberal agenda really is without everyone that isn't a republican being defined as a liberal. Leaving the majority of voters that are moderates be just that, moderate. Then if one or the other party wants to get a issue pasted or introduced into the public debate then they would need the participation of the moderates to get support into the political arena.

On Crime, Criminals, and our American Way of Life

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.
Thomas Paine

To me the heart of CheBob's post (The Superbowl of Fascism; found at Lonestone Revolution) is about the oppression of one group on another for various reasons, religion being but one. In my opinion it is not so much about which group (race, religion, ect.) is oppressing another it is about who or rather whom is profiting from this oppression.

Who profits from wars? Is it the young men and women that are asked to give their lives to protect their country's "national interest" in other lands or is it some other group? The group that profits from the pain and suffering of our fellow kindred are the enemy of all of mankind, not those with hatred, anger, and misguided or twisted versions of their religion. Although these things cause pain and suffering, few that fall into this category actually profit or benefit from their beliefs and actions, and all to often suffer as well.

Since in most societies it is considered a crime to cause pain and suffering to fellow citizens it is often considered an even more horrible crime to do such for profit.

However, in our own country the crime of profiting from pain and suffering of others is not considered a very serious crime but it is also the standard by which our economy is built. That which makes the United States the richest country in the world is the length to which we as a people allow ourselves the sin of causing pain and suffering in other countries and our own.

None of us, and I mean NONE are free of this sin, we all live very well at the expense of others. However, we are all guilty of a far greater crime than just profiting from the pain and suffering in the world we are also all participants in this, by enabling and by lending aid and support to these conditions, whether it be by our apathy, by just allowing the situation to continue because we don't want to risk our own comfort, or by allowing our government to be run unchallenged by the very criminals that are in fact our real enemies.

By our very actions we are put ourselves at risk of being exploited by the same mechanism that exploits others for our benefit. That is why I included the Thomas Paine quote.

Fascism is a very real threat to all of us, but I am really a lot less concerned with a few possible “fascists” in the middle-east and much more concerned with the ones that have control of the money, power and the military might of the United States. Because they are not only a threat to the rest of the world they are a very real threat to me and my family, right now!

In response to the above comment I was asked by Troutsky:

“what determines the "criminal" aspect in the first place and allows it to accumulate so much power.”

Okay, so I need to define why I see the conditions of pain and suffering in the world as criminal and how does it happen. Let's see if I can do that in less that 4,000 words.

In all societies there are rules by which we must live in which we must behave in order to be participants, CheBob has taught me to refer to these as “social contracts”. We basically have an agreement with and amongst our fellow citizens to respect each other's rights under this contract.

Some of the most basic of these are as old as civilization, don't kill your neighbor, don't steal his crops and livestock (food/wealth), don't burn his hut down, and don't harm/enslave is family. These are the basic tenets by which all civilizations have in fact become civilizations. Some of the later additions to these basic “laws” are: don't allow your neighbor to be killed or harmed if you can prevent it, don't allow his crops and livestock to be stolen if you can stop it, help him to put out the fire if his hut starts to burn, and see to the well being of his family if he is unable to.

To me these are the basic laws of humanity and the foundation of human rights. I also believe that one would be hard pressed to find a society that didn't agree that all of these laws are in the best interest of the community as a whole.

Now if one steps back and sees all of humanity as his neighbor, one can start to look at the world with humane morality, and compassion. Humane in the sense that we see our fellow humans as human and moral in the sense that we are acknowledging a universal social contract. In order to do this one must see past their own “social conditioning” which is much different from “social contracting”.

Social contracting creates a symbiotic relationship, I help you and look out for you and you help me and look out for me. What social conditioning does is creates a punishment/promised reward situation. In psychology, conditioning is defined as:
“A process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to associate a desired behavior with a previously unrelated stimulus.” This is best illustrated by the example of Pavlov's dogs, ring a bell before you feed the dogs, in time the dogs salivate every time you ring the bell.

Social conditioning is the means by which inequality is achieved, historically used by religions and states and in modern times business interests to control large numbers of people in order to maintain power over them and accumulate wealth from them. Two examples come to mind as to how social conditioning is used to do this. The first is one we all learned as young school children and may not even remember, that is asking our teachers permission if we may go to the restroom, the teacher always had the power, she could say “no” or “wait till we go to recess” or even humiliate us more by berating our lack of self control, not that announcing to the entire class that we had to pee wasn't humiliating enough. What is this situation teaching children, to defer to authority and power for even our most basic needs.

The second may or may not seem so obvious to some but if you have ever raised teens or been a mentor to one, you will get it. When a young person starts exploring their own identity and means of expressing outwardly what they believe inwardly, they are met with the full force of their parent's and teacher's own social conditioning. I am directly referring to youth fashion and culture. School boards and communities are always attempting to regulate and legislate what is acceptable in the means of clothing and bodily adornment for young people. Just pick up the student handbook for your local high school and you will see what I am talking about. The response all parents have heard is “I shouldn't be judged by what I wear but how I act” and they are absolutely right. When they were small children they were taught by the very same people that now disapprove of their outward appearance, to “not judge a book by it's cover.” Racial profiling has noting on youth profiling, because when an law enforcement officer sees two groups of young people in a park after dark and one group is wearing baggy jeans and riding skateboards and the others are wearing polo shirts and standing around nice cars, who do you think this officer will stop and have empty their pockets on the hood of his patrol car.

This is all social conditioning and it is the means of controlling a population. There are others but one that really gets my hackles up is the mythos of “the American Dream”. To me this is the ultimate stick and carrot, with a side order of bread and circuses. The way I see it, this is the way in which the American people are kept distracted in order for the profiters to exploit us and the rest of the world and also the source of our apathy toward these conditions. Social conditioning is exploitation because it makes us believe that there are others in this world that know better than ourselves what is good and right for us. When we give the power to make those decisions over to a state, religion or business interest then we have already given up our freedom to be self-actuating humans. It keeps us from asking, just because I can do it, should I?

I am not absolving myself of any responsibility in my own contribution to the conditions that I criticize, just because I think it doesn't mean I always know how to act on it. However, when you start to question everything you were conditioned to believe, interesting things start to happen in the way you look at yourself and your relationship to fellow humans. Let me just cite my own personal example of a big decision that my husband and I recently made in regard to the way we make our income.

We own and operate a semi-truck and haul livestock all over the United States. In the last year we finally finished paying off all of our equipment, which means our taxable income has increased. Since no one likes paying taxes and I absolutely resent having to pay for the war in Iraq, we had to figure out how to keep our tax burden down. So what to do? Conventional wisdom told us that we should purchase new equipment so we could have a big write off again, but then we would have $135,000 loan we had to payoff. So we asked what are the real costs, to that course of action?

Of course there was the new monthly payments that had to be made, which would force my husband to stay out for longer periods and work more, then we would have the added burden of paying tens of thousands of dollars in interest and insurance, which would lead to more work time for my husband. In addition to time away from home there were also the added costs of burning more fuel, contributing additional CO2 to the environment, which impacts global climate change, ie. Flooding in Indonesia, and drought in Africa. Then there were the resources that have to be mined to build the new truck, and the pollution from that, then there was the whole oil wars in the middle east which I already benefit from, with a very sad heart, and was trying to avoid supporting with my tax dollars in the first place. So how do we get out of this whole mess.

The answer was fairly simple once we question conventional wisdom (social conditioning). Work less, and give more to non-profits. The less we work the less of everything that negatively impacts others we contribute to. Over the next three years we will be transitioning into a new business, recycling old houses into energy-efficient inexpensive housing for low-income people. Which is another thing that conventional wisdom says is an oxymoron and can't be done, but I don't buy it.

So to wrap it all up, and summarize my answer to troutsky, the criminal act/sin that we all are guilty of is participating in and allowing the continuing violation of the universal social contract, and the means by which it is achieved is through our own social conditioning, by allowing it to go unchallenged even at very personal and local levels.

Please comment,
Aprilloper

America For Sale

As if selling the american public a bill of goods about 9-11 and Iraq, and tax cuts for the top 1% of the wealthist amoung us, wasn't enough for our slimey semi-elected representives.

Now to pay for all of the above; education, veteran's benifits, disaster relief, enviromental protection & clean-up, miner & worker safely, and highway maintance have all been de-funded.

Our ports are not the only thing that have been put up for sale, now this cabal in Washington D.C. has put our country on the auction block. OUR LAND, our national forests that have been held in a public trust for over 100 years are now for sale.

Forget, road and snowmobile access, forget hunting, fishing, hiking and camping, forget having sustainable use plans and grazing rights, when this land is sold it will be PRIVATE, and have signs posted all over the place saying STAY OUT. Hugh parcels of BLM land have already been sold to oil, gas, mining and timber companies with some being sold at rock bottom price compared to the resource assements on the land.

This land sale is a warning to all my fellow westerners.

The last election was not about gay marriage, abortion, and gun ownership, it was about giving up our LAND & RIGHTS to the greedy, raping and pilaging horad of NEO-CON's that you helped to RE-elect.

In November of this year you will be given another chance to set things right. I hope and pray everyday that my fellow westerners will get sick and tired of being used and abused by the politicians in Washington and start a REAL sagebrush rebellion, not that half-hearted con job Reagan pulled over on us but one more reminicent of Lexington & Concord in 1776.

If the though of voting for a party that you have been taught to hate and revile for the last 20 years is hard to do. Then think of it this way, you aren't voting for an ideaology but for your neighbor. The one that has to work in a mine that hasn't been properly inspected for four years, or your neighbor that has to work in a lumber mill or on a oil rig that no longer mets OSHA standards. Do it for the neighbor that has just lost her apartment because she couldn't pay the rent and buy food for her kids on the wages from three jobs she was trying to work at. Do it for the last of the family owned ranches that still exsist in your valley, and do it for the neighbor that hunts every years so he can put meat on the dinner table. Do it for your children so that they can grow up in the shadow of forest covered mountains and awsome vistas, not blighted by clear cuts and oil rigs.

The national forests and parks in the west are westerners gift and legacy to the rest of the nation. We have cared for and supported them for well over 100 years. Now we have to fight for them, and we have to fight for ourselves, so we don't go back to the bad old days when cooper kings and cattle barons ruled the west.

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Links to articles concerning the sale of federal land
National
Planet Ark
Regional (Rocky Mountains)
New West
Montana
Helena Independent Record
Wyoming
Casper Star Tribune
Colorado
Grand Junction KJCT
Summit Daily
Coloradoan
Loveland FYI
Counterpunch
Utah
Salt Lake City Tribune
New Mexico
The Albuquerque Tribune