Our Wars, Part 1.

Has anyone else noticed that the war on terror has become as successful as the war on drugs? Does anyone else see that the war on terror has created more terror just like the war on drugs has created more drugs? Let’s look at their history. The term, war on drugs, was used first by President Richard Nixon in 1971 which he based on the war on poverty announced by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. I have read articles about the real reason why he started that war. At that time there were many anti-Vietnam protestors in America, and since Nixon was another pro-war president, he tried to suppress the protesters by declaring marijuana (and other drugs) as illegal substances. Anyone that carried and used such drugs was considered a criminal. That was an easy decision since many Americans at that time (and today) used marijuana.

The war on drugs was doomed at its start because it did nothing to stop people from protesting the war. It actually gave them another reason to speak against the Govt. In 1994, one million Americans were going to prison for drugs every year. In 2005, that number was about 2.5 million per year. To me, that means only on thing: drug use has increased dramatically which is contrary to the purpose of the war on drugs.

This war, like all other wars, has become a profitable business paid for by our taxes. Between the years 2000-2006, the US spent $4.7 Billion to destroy coca production in Colombia, which has actually increased. Even with the help of TV writers and producers creating propaganda against drug use, the war on drugs did little to combat illegal drug trafficking. Peru President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) said that the US foreign drug policy has failed because coca supply has grown 10-fold during his term. The Canadian Govt. had similar success. In 1994, 28% used illegal drugs. In 2004, 45% used illegal drugs. Most of the Canadian Govt. budget went to law enforcement with little to prevention and education with the same in America.

Using the term “war” allows the use of the military, which many has argued against.

In 1989, America sent 25,000 troops to Panama to arrest Gen. Manuel Noriega on charges of illegal drug trafficking. US troops weren’t enough so private companies were also used. DynCorp (who are in Iraq today) was one of many to sign contracts with the State Dept to carry out anti-narcotics activities in Colombia, despite a 1988 2-year study that was funded by the Defense Dept that found that the use of the armed forces to combat drug trafficking had little or no effect and actually increased the profits of drug cartels. Also, the military was not the only party involved here.

In the mid to late 1980s, there were allegations that the CIA was involved in financing arms purchases with money from coca sales. In 1988, a U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations report on Contra drugs stated that members of the State Dept “…provided support for Contras involved in drug trafficking…”, which included “…payments to drug traffickers by the U.S. State Department of funds authorized by the Congress for humanitarian assistance to the Contras…”. In 1998, CIA Inspector General Frederick Hitz published a report that described how the Reagan-Bush administration protected Contras involved in drug trafficking from law enforcement and that the National Security Council was aware of these activities.

So what do we have after 35 years of the war on drugs and hundreds of billions of dollars spent on it? We have more people in prison, more drug use throughout the country, and more violent crimes, and someone is making a huge profit from it.

Coming soon in part 2, the War on Terror.

For the people, by the people...

That is what the founding fathers of this country had envisioned for the govt of the United States of America. Why? Because they came over here from a country that was ruled by one king after another that ran the country their way or you were tossed in some dungeon. That was one of the reasons why the USA was born. People were tired of being told how to live according to some tyrant, and most kings were. So a govt comprised of representatives of the people was in order, to give the people a chance to voice their opinions. Finally, the people's voice would be heard, or was it? For almost 3 decades the people thought the govt worked for them, and i think it did for most of the time. Many rules and regulations were passed that proved essential to improving the people's lives. Not too long ago, the working class had to work many hours every day but weren't paid for all of them. If they complained about working conditions they were harassed or even fired on the spot. Even though that still happens today (some companies would love to go back to those days), we now have regulations and agencies that work to protect the workers. Unions started to form because groups of workers realized that the elite corporate owners could only intimidate the few or the one. Then the govt started social programs to help different classes or groups of people. The idea behind these programs was a novel one, but they can only accomplish so much with insufficient funding. And lately, some of these programs have been eliminated (some were a waste) and many have seen drastic budget cuts. So how does today's govt look like? If you ask, most will probably say that it doesn't seem to have the people's interest anymore, and some would say that it has stopped listening to the people. And if you ask them who do they think the govt is listening to, they would say it's listening to big corporations with huge donations and lobbyists with major influence who can get much closer to the people's reps than the people themselves. Others would say the govt seems to care more about what's going on outside of this country than inside. You can see much of this on TV right now with the next batch of president-wannabes running from state to state trying to convince (sadly with some success) the people that they'll make things right, after being aligned with the current administration for most of it's time in power. They say they have a plan to fix everything, and they all have to be seen carrying someone's baby from the crowd (a select crowd sometimes). It seems that there isn't much difference between Washington and Hollywood these days. They're both are in the business of make believe. When you do get a candidate that speaks what's on the people's minds, the main-dream-media tries its best to ignore this person, or even create lies about the candidate to draw the people's attention away from the real issues. What will the next (and probably the most important in history) presidential election bring to the people? Hopefully, not more of the same. Hopefully.

More money for an "endless" war.

Last week, Democrats and Republicans voted to spend $70 Billion more to continue our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which brings us to about $600 Billion spent so far with an additional $200 Billion that Bush will be asking for in 2008. You can wrap the moon at its equator almost 6 times with that much money. If you think it went to the payroll of our brave soldiers over there, think again. Most of that money went to private contractors, defense companies, and dirty politicians. Some of it wasn't documented so no one really knows what happened to it. When asked about the missing $9 Billion (that we know of) Rumsfeld (former DOD secretary) said it was probably because of mismanagement by the civilian sector in the Pentagon and waved his hands like he was saying oh well. All of the money will be spent by next summer, so get ready for more budget cuts by then. This country is borrowing $1 Million every minute, and right now our national debt is over $9 Trillion (up from $5.7 Trillion before bush took over in 2001) which means that every man, woman, and child in the US owes $30,000 and that doesn't include our own personal debt! Back to the war funding. Since most Americans don't seem to be too happy with all of this free spending in their name on what seems to be an endless war, while many are finding it increasingly difficult to make end's meet, the main-dream-media has been working hard to condition the public that there's lots of progress in the war and things are becoming very quite over there. Just in time for the upcoming presidential elections because most candidates (except Ron Paul) have no clue what to do about it if it's to be a major issue (it will be no matter how they spin it). The New York Times covered the $70 Billion appropriations on page 24 like it was a small local story. What's being kept quite over there is really how much the embassy we're building in Iraq (that will rival the Vatican in size) and all of the military superbases will actually cost the American people. Don't look for many in Congress to do anything about it because they're more concerned with giving immunity from prosecution to corporations (big pharma, phone companies, banks) that donate more money to them than you and i ever could.

Having a job vs. having financial freedom.

Is anyone else tired of punching in & out at a lousy job that barely pays your bills? Many talk about having a secure job (no such thing anymore) where you work 25 years (another myth) and then retire and enjoy the last few years of your life. I recently had the privilege of not working for a few months. Unfortunantly, i became broke because my bills never take time off, and it took me that much time to find another "job". But during that time, my mind and eyes were opened up like never before. You see, living the american dream by having a 9-5 job where you punch in & out (my current job has a hand scanner for that), getting paid just enough to get by (some are luckier there), working up to 50 years of your life (more or less) and then retire with the hopes that you saved a few pennies or made a couple of wise investments so that you can finally do all the things you wanted to when you were younger (but now you may be too old or sick) but never had the time or money, is basically a dream. In the words of George Carlin: "why do they call it the american dream? because you have to be asleep to see it." When you can't afford something, all you can do is dream about it. The system of having a job is all about the company maximizing their profits. I'm sure many of us have seen the movie The Matrix (only the first was worth anything), where people were harvested as a source of energy. Well, that's exactly how many jobs are like. Most of us have to work long hours, with pushy bosses, and sometimes with jerks as co-workers, only to go home to recharge yourself and then do it all again the next day. With the country's economy in a decline (unless you watch FOX news where they tell you all's well) people are looking for alternatives to supplement their income. Some are doing it the old fashion way by working 2 physical jobs (usually with twice the misery), and others are looking into home-based businesses which now is on a huge rise because it has many advantages (like working from home, tax breaks, more time to spend with family & friends) over a regular job. I remember where a woman told Bush (the guy with the president title) that she has to work 3 jobs (2-3, not sure) just to get by these days, and his response with a smile on his face was "that's great, only in America!". That should be a wake-up call to all of us.

Current state of the world

Our world keeps changing which is part of life. But, over the past decade or so it has went through some extreme changes. Politics have been rewritten, drastic climate changes, a new endless war, high levels of frustration, and incredible corruption infesting world governments. I guess you can say that things will never be the same again. Lately, we need only to look at our country to see many of these changes. We have the most divisive politics, maybe in the history of the US. Two parties that appear to fight for us the citizens (usually when the cameras are on) but end up bowing to major corporations wishes from no-bid contracts to immunity from prosecution while the working class keeps getting squeezed. So many jobs have left the country and we may never see some of them again. Infrastructure is shrinking by the day. More public budgets are getting reduced or even completely taken away, while big corporations are posting multi billion dollar profits (one way is by not paying taxes by having a po box address in the cayman islands). People are having an increasingly difficult time putting food on their families..... i mean their table. And worst of all, we are governed by a select group that doesn't believe laws and regulation should apply to them. Not all is lost though. There are a few brave souls out there that keep fighting for real democracy and freedom. They speak the truth which many need to hear, and a few can't handle. Who are they? They're usually the ones that main-dream-media ridicule, ignore, and even attack with lies. But thank God that these brave souls are, well, brave. They won't quit their fight to bring out the truth. They keep on talking, organizing, and empowering. So what will happen tomorrow or during the next decade? Not much if you leave it up to the governments. you see, if you don't change then nothing will. That may be ok for some, but not for me or others.