What I Want For Christmas

Robert G. Ingersoll, noteable free-thinker who lived in the 19th century and was know as "The Great Agnostic". He was an outspoken advocate for human rights. In December 1897, he wrote "What I Want for Christmas". After reading this piece, I realized nothing has changed but the century. His words are still relevant today.

The following is from Robert Ingersoll’s “What I Want For Christmas” (1897) If I had the power to produce exactly what I want for next Christmas, I would have all the kings and emperors resign and allow the people to govern themselves. I would have all the nobility crop their titles and give their lands back to the people. I would have the Pope throw away his tiara, take off his sacred vestments, and admit that he is not acting for God, is not infallible, and is just an ordinary Italian. I would have all the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and clergymen admit that they know nothing about theology, nothing about hell or heaven, nothing about the destiny of the human race, nothing about devils or ghosts, gods or angels. I would have them tell all their “flocks” to think for themselves, to be manly men and womanly women, and to do all in their power to increase the sum of human happiness. I would have all the professors in colleges, all the teachers in schools of every kind, including those in Sunday schools, agree that they would teach only what they know and not palm off guesses as demonstrated truths. I would like to see all the politicians changed to statesmen: Men who long to make their country great and free Men who care more for public good than private gain Men who long to be of use I would like to see all the editors of papers and magazines agree to print the truth and nothing but the truth, to avoid all slander and misrepresentation, and to let the private affairs of the people alone. I would like to see drunkenness and prohibition both abolished. I would like to see corporal punishment done away with in every home, in every school, in every asylum, reformatory, and prison. Cruelty hardens and degrades, kindness reforms and ennobles. I would like to see millionaires unite and form a trust for the public good. I would like to see a fair division of profits between capital and labor, so that the toiler could save enough to mingle a little June with the December of his life. I would like to see an international court established in which to settle disputes between nations, so that armies could be disbanded and the great navies allowed to rust and rot in perfect peace. I would like to see the whole world free — free from injustice, and free from superstition. This will do for next Christmas. The following Christmas, I may want more

Let us all work to make Ingersolls Christmas wishes finally come true.

I wish everyone peace, love and happiness and a Merry Christmas!
Fobbsie

The Not Surprising Racism of Ron Paul

The not accidental release of the old “Ron Paul Political Report” newsletters is the latest Republican candidate scandal. Most republicans do not like Ron Paul and he is rising in the polls. Due to his rise, his political adversaries are bring out the big guns. So they threw the racist card out with a vengeance and every one was shocked. Oh my! Who would have imagined?

My question is why would anyone be shocked? Ron Paul was born in Texas during the Jim Crow era. He espouses conservative religious views and lots of white churches taught/teach and believed black people were inferior to white people. Both he and his son Rand both have said they would not have voted for the Civil Rights Act. So in other words, he is a Texas redneck or more bluntly put a former Klan member or (White) Citizens Council member. By the way those are white supremacy groups.

A lot of young people like Ron Paul but they just want more personal liberties because they have grown up in an increasingly repressive America. However, Mr. Paul is still a racist and many young people are not as racist as older Americans. I am not saying all old people are racist but a lot of them are, so are some young people. A few days ago, I was talking to my partners mother, who is white and lives in Pennsylvania. She told me all her relatives are racist and they hate Obama because he is black. There is no other reason. She said she can't talk to any of them about politics she doesn't like their views. My partners mother is a woman of strong convictions and will not be swayed by bigots. Some people do not stand up to the racism of their family and friends. Don't be one of those people.

We need to call out racists for the destructive forces they are, shame and ignore their commentary and move America forward. I hope Ron Paul finally loses his appeal with his so called "loyal followers". They deserve better than Ron Paul and so does the country.

Read it for yourself. Here are a few pages of the newsletter.

 The Ron Paul Report - Page 1

 The Ron Paul Report - Page 2

 

 The Ron Paul Report - Page 3

 The Ron Paul Report - Page 4


 The Ron Paul Report - Page 5

The Ron Paul Report - Page 6

The Ron Paul Report - Page 7

The Ron Paul Report - Page 8


More Ron Paul Reports

Happy Holiday's,

Fobbsie

The Change We Deserve: A Call to Action!

When I was a young girl, I thought I wanted to be president. As I grew older I figured out I couldn't be president and that there were a lot of things I couldn't actually be like a professional athlete; there wasn't really a lot of professional female athletics. I'm not saying I didn't do anything because I've been all over the world and held positions of power and influence but I did not reach as far as I should have. Don't worry I have not given up, I still have a couple of things I need to do.

The election of Barrack Obama should be one of the most inspirational things our nation has ever seen; it was to me and most people. The improbable happened: A non-white man became the president of the United States, the most powerful person on the earth. We as a nation overcame centuries of racism and the pain and destruction that come with it. As a nation we said we want change and we want it in a big way. Despite the fact that I did not vote for Obama (I voted for a third party candidate), I was proud that he won. It made me feel good and I like many other Americans understood what Michelle Obama meant when she said for the first time she feel good about America. I am not the type of person who keeps celebrity memorabilia or tries to stay up on celebrity activities but I have several keepsakes from the Obama inauguration. I have the Stars and stripes newspaper from that day. I have a commemorative tote bag and a key chain and I use them both. I like to see what the First Lady is wearing, also we both have gardening in common and want to promote healthy eating. I have never really cared what the President and First Lady did before but Barrack and Michelle Obama seem more real to me. And I am sure it must be the same for lots of people of all "races". People all over the world are counting on Obama to change things. My Hairdresser is from Ghana and she said to me after the election "I'm glad we finally have a president". We meaning black people. I have a Hispanic American friend who told me she never voted before because she "never felt anything for the people who ran for president before."

Everyone expected Obama to do things radically differently. But he didn't! This is precisely why so many people are disappointed in what has happen over the past three years.

To compound the problems Republican politicians and their operatives have totally lost their minds, so much so they would destroy our country to keep the President from doing anything positive for the people of America and the world. They were afraid of the changes he would have/should or made.

With so much positive energy for change, we should be speeding along on the change superhighway in a supercharged electric car. But instead we are keeping to the old well trodden path of the 20th century in a belching, creaking old AMC Gremlin right before it gets hit in the rear and blows up. Our leaders are advocating the same actions that got us to this place and except us to believe that this time something different will happen. We only need to believe, click our heals three times and say we're number one! Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is not just insanity, it is stupidity.

Millions are still out of work, millions have lost and will lose their homes. Children are going hungry along with their parents. Pointless wars are still going on and America's arm-chair warlords are always trying to find ways to justify starting more wars. The people in the streets are crying out for help because our nation cannot continue like this. But nothing happens, we cannot come together as a nation because of a few people who are scared and harbor out-dated prejudices. These people want to return to a time that never existed and to values we never had. The USA has been about change from the moment it was founded. Most people came to America to get a fresh start;to get away from the old, oppressive corrupt and rotting places in the world. We are not suppose to be stagnant. The past holds no fascination for us, we tear down old building and build new ones. We move from fad to fad without looking back. Americans are progressive people and it is time we remember that fact and stop listening to people who only want to hold us back.

Demand a better future for everyone. No more homeless people. No more hungry families. Everyone educated to help move the world forward. No more draconian laws that needlessly incarcerate people. No more violating our constitutional rights by constantly an needlessly searching and surveilling people.

All my life I thought America could be the best place in the world but they way to do things would have to change. If our government could loan the banks 7 Trillion dollars which is about half of our GDP, why cant we spend more to make our lives better? It would cost less and have a bigger effect on the world than giving more money to the banks. There is no nobility in suffering. Going hungry and worrying about how your going to pay the bills is not a badge of honor. Constantly worry about whether or not you will have a job does not make you stronger.

No one in the United States of America should suffer. We are the richest nation on earth but we do not have the least amount of suffering. The question that is never asked is why, Why aren't we the best country in the world to live in? Why aren't our citizens the best educated? Why doesn't everyone in America have their basic needs met? The answer is simple; we have let ourselves be brainwashed in accepting less than we deserve. We are in an abusive relationship and we need to get out of it. We are humans first and foremost. All humans have inalienable rights. Everyone is human and it does not matter what they have done or not done. We need to always remember that. We need to stop hurting each other and stop standing by while others hurt people. When we begin to see each other as equally human as ourselves, we will begin to treat each offensive to a stranger as an offense to you or your family. When this happens injustice will no longer to tolerated or accepted and that is when the world will change.

I call on our miracle President to lead us out of these dark times. But he did not make this miracle

alone and he can't fix the problems without our help. Demand Justice for all. Support your local

Occupation Movement in what ever form it might take. Call/Fax or Mail your State, Local and Federal

representatives and President Obama and:

Demand more money for primary and secondary education.

Demand Free Tuition at State run colleges and universities.

Demand more low cost housing and an end to homelessness.

Demand a government jobs creation program.

Demand medicare for all.

Demand Social Security remain intact or upgraded.

Demand a more transparent government.

Demand a demilitarization on our Local police forces.

Demand clean water, clean air and clean food.

Demand an end to corporate person-hood.

Demand an end to the off-shoring of American jobs.

Demand a new electrical grid and other infrastructure projects.

Demand an end to the PATRIOT Act and other laws that violate our constitution rights.

Demand an end to the "War on Drugs".

Demand an better environmental protections.

Demand an end to slave labor in producing the goods we use.

Demand equality for all people.

Demand justice for all people.

Demand whatever you think will improve America for the better.

Demand your rights as a human and an American!

Power to the People,

Fobbsie

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The White House Phone Numbers Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461 TTY/TDD: 202-456-6213

US Senate Phone list by state:  Click here to access

U.S. House of Representatives (202) 224-3121 TTY: (202)-225-1904 Find your Representative: http://www.house.gov/representatives/

 

Capitalism: Working as Intented

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Capitalism is working as intended; it is not broken and does not need to be fixed. It was not meant to raise peoples standard of living or to make lives better. That is propaganda used to make you a willing participant in your own enslavement. The purpose of Capitalism is to make a few people rich while exploiting the natural resources available, including the human resources that do the work and buy the products and services. And soon or later capitalism will destroy itself because that is the inevitable fate of a system that eats itself alive as a part of it's process.

As a nation America has a lot of problems and we need to find the root cause to solve them. However, as long as we are working on solving the wrong problem, nothing will change. The problem is not that capitalism is broken and we need to fix it. The problem is capitalism. The question to consider is what economic system will provide what we need as humans and assist in the further development of human progress. Guess what the answer isn't: More unfettered capitalism!

I have never been a fan of capitalism or the havoc it causes to its victims. Most people suffer from the effects of capitalism, even if they don't realize it. Stress about money, bills, housing, schools keeping a job, all of it adds up over time. Nature and the environment suffer too. But most important, human progress is very much constrained by capitalism. Capitalists do not want people to progress unless they can figure out a way to make money on it. Progress is less important than profits. Unless it can be exploited life is not important. Principles, morality, kindness, peace, and love are of no use to the capitalist system unless money can be made. For some reason people don't know that capitalism is a life sucking monster or they refuse to see it or it could just be Stockholm syndrome. Thankfully, the Occupy Wall Street movement seems to have awakened a few people; I hope more wake up soon.

Capitalism has been extolled by its proponents as noble, correct and all about personal freedom and choice but it is none of these things. You buy what they sell you, you get what you pay for and you are who they say you are. There is no freedom in capitalism. There is only slavery in capitalism. If you don't think it is slavery, imagine your life if you lost your job and could not find one for several years. After you run out of money, the system starts to devour you. Kicking you out of your home and on to the streets, ruining your credit, calling you lazy for not being able to find work, making it hard for you to vote, testing you for drugs if you want assistance and forcing you to work for the lowest wages just to have some semblance of dignity. There is no dignity in working for others. People will do anything to get a job and even more to keep one. They will lie, cheat, steal, and kill; nothing matters but keeping their job. And when people do something the system deems bad, like sell sex, drugs or their children, we are all shocked and outraged. But we should not be, because capitalism makes everyone do bad or illegal things. Why is it worse to sell “illegal” drugs, than it is to kill people with defective prescription drugs? Why is it worse to sell sex on the street corner than it is to sell everything using sexual imagery? 

There is no real defense of capitalism; its apologists have deluded themselves into believing in the system even, or especially when it has kicked them to the ground. "I could've been a contender. I could've been somebody", is the mantra of the drones who refuse to see capitalism is rigged for those who are already rich.

If you still have a job it is not because you are better than anyone else at your job or possess any special skills; they just have not found out how to do without you yet because everyone is disposable. The corporation uses you and when it is done, it tosses you aside. Corporations spend billions of dollars every year bombarding people with the message that there is no alternative to the current system. Submit and comply until you die; leave the thinking to them and everything will be alright.

Religion is useful to capitalism because it re-enforces the message of submitting to authority and working hard. If you follow the rules and are good, you will receive your reward in heaven for surely won’t get any on earth. Religion also tells us that the wicked will be punished so there is no need for justice on earth. That's why not believing in gods is so dangerous to the system; if you slip the bonds of the religion myth, you might stop believing in the myths of capitalism, the free market and other such nonsense. It all works together. It is no coincidence that Lloyd Blankfein, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Goldman Sachs, says he is doing the lords work. It is all one and same. The invisible hand of the market is allegedly the hand of god.

Please do not call me a Marxist because I am not familiar enough with Marxist theory to claim that title. From what I do know about Socialism, it seems to be the only way that humanity can live in a peaceful, prosperous and sensible way. The idea that people work cooperatively to produce the goods and services that society needs, sharing equally in benefits it produces is an appealing idea. Why do workers need individuals as owners, bosses or overseers? Why do the people that do the work accept not getting their share of the profit from the goods and services they produce? No corporation will ever pay you the true value of your work, that's how they make money.

Wal-Mart is a good example of the exploitation of everyone for the benefit/profits of one small family. The production of most of the goods sold at Wal-Mart is done by people who are practically slaves. The “associates” that work in the stores are paid as little as Wal-Mart can get away with. Even the overseers who are paid a little better, are exploited. Wal-Mart actively practices discrimination in its hiring and promotion practices. They flood the markets with cheap, useless junk which destroys other businesses. They get tax breaks from cities and states, often keeping the sales tax they charge the customers as a part of the deal. They provide limited health benefits to their employees, counseling them on how to get benefits from the government to supplement the employees’ low wages. The main people that benefit from the money that Wal-Mart makes is the Walton Family, everyone else is just a pawn in their greed game. Do we need Wal-Mart? Do we need the Walton family? What value do they add to our world, our nation, and our lives? How are they helping positive progress in the world? If Wal-Mart were replaced by a lot of small co-operative businesses, paying their employees living wages, would we miss it? I think not.

There are better business models than the corporate hierarchical one where someone is the boss and someone is the worker/slave. There is a growing movement for co-operative corporations or businesses. Co-op businesses employ over 850,000 people in America with revenue of nearly $500 billion. Employee ownership is a democratic approach to business that is better for us the workers who do the work. Co-Op's do not stifle productivity or ingenuity. Most people want to be invested and interested in the work they do; co-operative businesses allow this to happen and people's creativity to soar. This is actually something unemployed people could do now. Most unemployed people are not unskilled labor; they have skills that they could combine with those of other skilled or like minded individuals to start their own cooperative business to equally share both the risk and the success.

But what would happen to Wal-Mart and Verizon, and Co.? Who cares? They can only be successful by oppressing everyone around the world.

For more information on Cooperative Corporations check out these resources:

International Co-operative Alliance

Union Cab

The United States Federation of WorkerCooperatives 

International Year of Co-operatives

It is time for all of us to think differently. The old ways will not solve the problems of America or the world. We cannot budget cut or spend our way out of our problems. Our so called leaders do not know how to fix the problems and they are not open to alternatives. The real problem is the capitalist system. It should not be saved again. It should be allowed to die the death it should have died in 1930's.

Occupy Everywhere!

Power to the People,

Fobbsie

September 11, 2011: Time to Stop Remembering So Much

Ten years after 9/11/2001 we are still vividly reliving the trauma of that day. The videos of that day are being shown on TV and shared everywhere, along with messages of remembrance on social media websites. I am in no way saying we should forget the victims of this terrible event. They should be remembered in a quiet and respectful way. No grand speeches, no giant monuments. The actually mourning should be done by the people who lost friends and family. The rest of the nation should work to make our country the place it use to be; less angry, more prosperous, and more caring.

America is like the widow who lost her husband 10 years ago and can't stop mourning. In her bitterness she just lets life pass her by as she waits to die so she can join her husband in the afterlife. The world did not change on 9/11/2001, we changed and then we changed the world. Now we need to change again, so the next generation of children will know something other than war, fear and hatred.

We are prosecuting two wars that we were told were necessary for our safety. These wars are killing people and our opportunity to move forward as a country. America has turned into a police state internally and externally we are the biggest warlord in the world. Politicians are still beating the 9/11 drum even though they clearly do not care about the 9/11 first responders and the ground zero clean up personnel, because if they did they would have passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act in 2006 instead of 2011. Better still they would have had the cleanup crews wear proper equipment in 2001 instead of lying about the toxicity of the air and debris around “Ground Zero”.

We have wasted lives, money and time on vengeance. It is now time to stop; we cannot go on as a country hating and fearing everything and everyone that is different. There have always been people in the world that want to harm us, there always will be and our actions over the last ten years have increased the number. However, we do not need to live our lives in fear and hatred of the rest of the world. We, Americans, need to let go of some of our anger because if we don’t we will destroy ourselves. No outside forces can destroy us but our fear and hatred is and will continue to destroy the America some of us remember.

I say some of us because the young people who grew up over the past 10 years don’t really know anything but our country at war, fear and hatred of Muslims, violations of our constructional rights through spying on US citizens, torturing people, detaining people indefinitely without a trial, the constant searches when you travel. This needs to stop. This is not America. This is what the NAZI’s did. This is how Stalin treated his countrymen. This is how the Stasi in East Germany acted. We are better than all those people. America represents truth, justice and freedom. Not a police state where all the citizens cower in fear and mistrust everything and everyone. 

Many countries have experienced terrorism without losing their way or their minds. The parable of the boiling frog is good analogy for our situation:

The Parable of the Boiled Frog  “If you place a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will immediately try to scramble out. But if you place the frog in room temperature water, and don’t scare him, he’ll stay put. Now, if the pot sits on a heat source, and if you gradually turn up the temperature, something very interesting happens. As the temperature rises, the frog will do nothing. In fact, he may show every sign of enjoying himself. As the temperature gradually increases, the frog will become groggier and groggier, until he is unable to climb out of the pot. Though there is nothing restraining him, the frog will sit there and boil. Why? Because the frog’s internal apparatus for sensing threats to survival is geared to sudden changes in the environment, not to slow, gradual changes.”

America is the frog and things have changed around us slowly and we just don’t think about it too much. We are lulled into complacency. We are worried about things that don’t matter. We are lead to believe that all these changes have made us safer and. are manipulated into believing we must stay at war perpetually to maintain that safety. We are lead to believe its okay to violate our 4^th Amendment rights every time you send an e-mail, make a call or fly on an airplane because we are “safer”. 

The 4th Amendment of the US Constitution The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Many people believe it is okay to torture others for the sake of our security; giving it the less offensive name “Enhanced Interrogation”. The war criminals, George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld do interviews and book signings where they openly discuss their crimes and how much they love to torture people in our name. America used to arrest, try and convict war criminals, now we watch them on TV talk shows. These practices haven’t stopped with the current administration and it makes our current leaders just as guilty as the past leaders. Especially since Guantanamo hasn’t been closed as promised.

There are lots of questions we should ask ourselves this day: Have you had enough vengeance? If the answer is no, then, how many of our soldiers have to die for you to feel better? Over 4700 soldiers have died in Iraq and over 2700 soldiers have died in Afghanistan. These numbers include the British, Germany and other NATO forces fighting our pointless wars right alongside us but most of the deaths are American. Tens of thousands more soldiers have been seriously wounded. If those numbers are not high enough for you, you really need to take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself “For what?”.

What have we achieved or gained from our perpetual wars besides  thousands of dead, tens of thousands wounded, millions seeing us as an evil empire and a huge deficit? What do you personally get from endless war? Do you really feel safer now? Do you really want to use your energy hating everyone that is different? Do you think the wars are making people like us more or better? What was it all for? Have we gained anything? What have we lost?

For me, the tenth anniversary of 9/11 is not only a time to remember and mourn those who died and the 343 who gave their lives evacuating at least 16,000 from the crumbling towers. It is a time also to reflect on what has happened over the past ten years. I urge everyone to do the same. Think about what we were, how we changed as a result of our chosen response to 9/11, how we changed the world by our response and where we are going in the future. We need to change course because if we don’t move in a more positive direction our republic will be just like the Roman Republic, gone.

Interesting 9/11 articles:

9/11: What Didn't Change

After 9/11, Was War the Only Option?

Decisions, Not Events, Shaped Leaders After 9/11

Recommended Books

Peace,

Fobbsie

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Death of a Soldier

On Friday, we had a five hour layover at the Atlanta Airport on our way home from Colorado. We stopped in a smokers lounge for a cigarette. There was a large window on one wall in the room that looked out onto the tarmac so I went toward the window to get some sun and to try to image what the outside would feel like. As I was smoking, I saw two men carrying guidons, flags from military units and another one carrying an American flag. I said aloud, perhaps too loudly, “Why are they carrying guidons on the tarmac?”. Everyone in the room got up and went to the window. We all stood by the window and watched in horror as a small military contingent prepared to receive the body of one of our soldiers. The body came off a plane in a wooden box with a flag on it and was transferred to a baggage transfer car. One women in the room said, “Why don't they bring the troops home? That's what we were promised.” I agreed with her. The sight of this transfer and the reality of the death of someones mother or father, husband or wife, sister or brother, son or daughter was a painful and sad sight. I stood at the window transfixed with the others for a long time and felt my eyes start to tear. I have the same feeling now as I write this. I could no longer enjoy smoking my cigarette and told my partner it was time to leave this room.

I am so angry! My rage fills me and I want everyone to see what I saw. As we left the smokers lounge, we entered the unreality of the airport, shiny, bustling and fake; People are blithely checking their iPhones and Blackberries. They do not know about the fallen solider in the tarmac and they probably did not care to know. People say they support the troops but what to they really support? Do they support the death of our soldiers or the death that the soldiers bring to other people or maybe they support what troops symbolize. I just do not know what people mean when they say they support the troops.

We went to a restaurant for lunch and midway through the meal I burst into tears. I cried for the soldiers and their families. I could not help myself my anger and sadness combined to make me sob uncontrollably.  Later on the plane, I tried to watch the movie Battle for Los Angeles. Fake movie soldiers were getting killed and it reminded me way too much of the real soldiers dying; I started crying again and had to turn the film off. These senseless wars have to end!

This is a second time in my life that soldiers have fought and died in a pointless and seemingly never-ending war. I don't want these wars to continue. Support the troops, bring them all home. The Vietnam War started before I was born and ending when I was eight years old. I remember people who I knew as a little girl who went to war and came back changed. Mentally and physically changed; some of whom really scared me after their return. My memories of the Vietnam war are only through the people in the my life that were changed by this war. I was too young to remember the politics directly.

My ex-husband, who was a Marine and 14 years older than me, was in the war. He had come through the war without physical scars but plenty of mental scars, like many that returned home from Vietnam. He had bad dreams. Unexpected fireworks could cause him to “Hit the Deck” grabbing anyone around him and pulling them down with him. There was the time when he was having surgery and they did not put him under deep enough to completely knock him out. He started flashing back to some incident where he was under attack. He called in air support and beat up the doctors in the operating room. It took five or six men to subdue him, long enough to pump enough anesthesia in him to really knock him out. And on the anniversary of a really bad event that happened to him there, he was quite suicidal, mainly because he was alive and his friends were dead. There were a couple to times that we stayed up all night and it was my job to keep him alive until the next morning.

I support the troops and I want them with us and their families alive and well.

Here is a link to the Military times that lists all the soldiers that have died in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 10 years, with pictures of their faces and information on their lives. Look at them, read about them and then think about the reasons they died. Then think about the thousands of soldiers, that have been wounded and maimed for life; we never really see those people. I am sure there are plenty of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan who have mental scars and are not the people they use to be. We need to demand, that the killing and maiming of our fellow countryman stop.

Starting October 6, 2011 on Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C., there will be an on-going protest to end the wars. Check out the website http://october2011.org/statement and consider going there. I will be there, if I can get together the money to go there.

Stop the wars, bring our women and men home.

Peace, 

Fobbsie

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It's the Wars Stupid!

Over the past few months, it has occurred to me that our politicians and our media are treating this debt ceiling debate like a poker game. They negotiate, they golf, they bluff and they have press conferences and generally try to score points for themselves. Their primary concern is not the people or the nation, it's their political profiles. Normally, you know politicians are only out for themselves but this time they have completely dropped all pretenses of concern for the nation. I am disgusted by all of them. The finances of America are not a game and “we the people” are not game pieces in their hegemonic chess game. Millions of people are out of work and millions more people, with or without college degrees, have low paying crappy jobs.  People all over America are still losing their homes, cars and their savings. The whole idea that normal people have to be sacrificed in order to get the debt ceiling raised is ridiculous.  The debt ceiling has been raised 74 times since 1962, so there is no reason not to do it without any other legislation attached to it. The only acceptable exception to this would be if they attached a job creation bill to raising the Debt Ceiling.

We do not need to raise the social security age. Right now for someone my age (45) it is already 67 if I want to get my full benefits or I can wait until I am 72 to collect a little bit more. Any older and I could be dead by the time I was eligible to collect the money that I have paid into the system. Social security and Medicare are not a gift. I like many other people have been paying into social security since I was 15 years old. For the last 30 years, I have been paying into Social Security and Medicare.  There are people who believe that we have to make cuts in education, social security, Medicare, police, fire departments and other hallmarks of a civil society. These people are delusional and quite frankly they should not be listen to. I do not care what any republican or democrat politician says on this matter unless they are going to ensure my ability to collect my money at an age when I might still be alive. Yes, I realize that Social Security should not be my only retirement plan but almost everyone's retirement plan included their social security benefits. Social Security payments are normally included in retirement planning.

Hmmm, so if we don’t cut Social security and medicare, what should be cut? Oh, I know! Why don’t we end any or all of the three wars we have going on. They cost a lot of money but no one really talks about stopping any one of the wars. The Afghanistan and Iraq war cost about $14 billion a month. The Libya “no fly-zone” cost about $40 million a month. Osama bin Laden is dead. Saddam Hussein is dead.  We’ve thrown Muammar Qaddafi under the bus, so it is only a matter of time before he is dead too. There is no need to continue with these costly wars. The chart below illustrates the amount of money we are throwing down a hole on war.

Cost of War in Billions
	Iraq	Afghanistan	Enhance  security	Unable to allocate
FY 2001/2002		20.8	$13.0
FY 2003	$53.00	14.7	$8.0	5.5
FY 2004	$75.90	14.5	$3.7
FY 2005	$85.50	20	$2.1
FY 2006	$101.60	19	$0.8
FY 2007	$131.20	39.2	$0.5
FY 2008	$142.10	43.5	$0.1
FY 2009	$95.50	59.5	$0.1
FY 2010	$65.90	104.9	$0.1
FY 2011	$51.10	119.4	$0.1
	$802	455.5	$28.5	5.5

Total Deficit!                                    $1,500,000,000

Total Spend on War!                       $1,291,300,000

Difference                                            $20,8700,000

As you can see from the chart above, if we didn't start these wars our deficit problems might not exist. The longer the wars go on (10 years so far), the bigger the deficit gets. It's not that complicated. The remaining $20 billion of deficit is probably due to the cost for the “war on drugs”, the interest on deficit and lost tax revenues from corporate taxes, hedge fund managers and people making over $1,000,0000 a year.
  

We have thrown away billions of dollars fighting the Global War on terrorism (GWOT). When I say thrown away, I literally mean thrown away. Once a bomb or bullet is used you can’t get it back. All the computer equipment the military buys gets left behind and burned, even if it could be fixed or reused. We lost $12 billion of cash in Iraq. That’s right lost. $12 billion weighs about 360 tons and you’d think this would make it easy to keep up with but it wasn’t. So when some politician tells you we need to cut education, Social Security and Medicare and other government services, tell them to go find the $12 Billion they lost. 

Watch this short clip from Jon Stewart on the no so funny loss of $12 Billion in cash in Iraq, that we are still paying for as a part of our national debt.

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Prior to 2009 the two wars we are fighting were unfunded requirements. That means the cost of the wars were not included in the budget. I know this to be a fact because for most for the wars I worked for the Department of Defense (DoD).  At the beginning of every fiscal year we would get our budgeted funds and then by January or February, the DoD would take some of the money back from our command to use for the wars. Then around May there would be a supplementary funding request sent to congress, which if it did not get funded would severely hamper DoD operations. The request for additions funds would be funded by July and if you didn’t spend all your supplementary funding by the beginning of September, they would take it back and send it to the war zone. The funding of the war was like a giant three card Monty game; really just a big scam.  At the same time, taxes were lowered for some people, mostly people at the high and low ends of the tax tables. It is really simple: We are spending too much money on the military and do not collect enough taxes to cover the cost of the war. 

Ironically, a lot of the money being spend in Iraq and Afghanistan goes to build schools, roads, water treatment plants and other infrastructure projects just like the ones we need in America. At this point you have to wonder why are we using our money to help people we are at war with and kill regularly. The only kind reason I can think of is because we are really brainwashed and need to be deprogrammed.

So now, we have three wars and a big debt, and the economy is in really bad shape, if you are not rich. But now we all need to share the sacrifice according to our rich politicians who will get their congressional pensions and government funded health care just for serving in office. We are told by politicians of all stripes that entitlement programs must be cut and we have to be adults and take our medicine. So at this point if I was ever in a room with one of these jokers I would be thrown out because of all the expletives that would fly from my mouth. It would go a little like this:

You stupid {beep} {beep}. What the {beep} do you mean shared sacrifices? You dumb {beep} make more money than most people, get better benefits and way more vacation time than any normal working person. Why don’t you show us the way to sacrifice by cutting you own {beep} salaries and benefits. Let’s means test your {beep} pensions. You can kiss my {beep} you dumb {beep} {beep}. Stop these costly wars and stop sucking corporate {beep} and represent the interests of the people!  You can fill in the blanks, with your favorite expletive.

There is no reason for normal people to sacrifice. We have already done that with low wages, foreclosures, outsourcing of our jobs, poor education system, and in many other ways to numerous to mention.  The debt ceiling has been raised 74 times since 1962, so there is no reason not to do it without any other legislation attached to it. We did not cause the financial crisis, but we bailed out the banks. We did not start the wars, but some of us fight them and all of us are paying for them.  I should not have to eat cat food when I'm old to fix rich people screw ups. I did not screw up and neither did you. If you are one of the many people who have bought into the idea that Social Security and Medicare are the problem, it is time to think differently. It's not our fault, don't believe the hype.

End the wars; raise taxes on the wealthy, end corporate tax loopholes and leave Social Security and Medicare alone. I am sure this will not happen because our politicians are mostly wealthy and out of touch with the day to day realities of life in the United States. (Check out the article “The 50 Richest Members of Congress”).

Call the President, your senator and your representative and tell them, whether they are a democrat or republican, you will not vote for them if they cut Medicare and/or Social Security.

The White House Phone Numbers Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461 TTY/TDD: 202-456-6213

US Senate Phone list by state:  Click here to access

U.S. House of Representatives (202) 224-3121 TTY: (202)-225-1904 Find your Representative: http://www.house.gov/representatives/

Ciao for Now,
Fobbsie

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