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.