Staggering Forward To The Future

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE
Special Issue – Dec 2010

STAGERING FORWARD TO THE FUTURE
(at the end of a tumultuous decade)

This first decade of the 21^st Century has been exhausting. Its tumultuous and chaotic times have left us staggering forward to the future, hesitant, uncertain even fearful, of whatever may be waiting for us over the horizon.

As a nation we now find ourselves standing like a deer frozen in the oncoming glare of a future speeding towards us at warp speed. And as the last eight hundred pound gorilla left standing in this world, we're not sure what to make of it, or, what our role in that future should be. Everywhere we look, all we see is confusion, conflict, threats of attacks, and a diminishing status of our position in that world.

Here at home, our economic engine may still be turning over, but it's backfiring a lot, and not producing the power output we've come to expect from it. Along with that its financial batteries have been so abused lately, they're barely keeping it going, even hooked up to and receiving hefty surges through the Fed's stimulus jumper cables. And a lot of folks are beginning to wonder if….tomorrow….will ever be a better day.

Well, we've been through hard times before. Much harder times than any of these, and we still managed to not only do well for ourselves, but rebuild half of the rest of the world at the same time besides. So there's no reason to think that we can't do it again. Only, this time, perhaps, we'll be much smarter about how we go about it. That is, we won't volunteer to be the world's police force anymore, nor will we allow ourselves to be conned into pissing away our national treasure on those who perceive us only as a….cash cow….to be milked as long as possible.

If we're to face up to this oncoming future, then it's time we started thinking about taking care of our own for a change. It's time we looked into the mirror for a reality check about our flaws and do something about them. There are a lot of reform efforts we need to do about us, if we want to continue being the model for the rest of the world of what a free, open, prosperous, and civil society should be like. Thus, our past should be the compass for our future, because our founders gave us as perfect a blueprint as possible for being such a society. And while the structure built from it is still sound, there is a bit of dry rot and fair wear and tear (call it deferred maintenance) that needs to be taken care of before we can really fulfill the promise of what we call….America….in that future. So ends this decade.

Now comes the hard part, but we will survive and prosper, if we remember only one thing:

KEEP ON KEEPING ON!

CENTURION

Christmas Days of Yore

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE
Special Issue – Dec 2010

CHRISTMAS DAYS OF YORE
(debutants galore….gift-wrapped for the occasion…and a hard lesson learned)

At the risk of being totally politically incorrect, indulge me for a bit, as I reminisce about times long past, in old St. Louis, when even the still bloody rumbles of World War Two, couldn't get in the way of Christmas partying. In fact, in this case, Christmas 1944, came at the climax of that war in Europe, with some of the bloodiest fighting yet to come.

But, the insouciance of youth, and socially privileged youth at that, was not about to let a little old war dampen its Christmas festivities which, traditionally, was one continuous round of balls, parties, eggnog and brandied bashes, and feasting, of one kind or another. For the last ten days of the year, Christmas through New Year, everyone literally lived in their party clothes (tuxedos and gowns) for most of that time.

Of course, winter snows could get in the way sometimes, but, boots, fur hats, coats, scarves and warm gloves and mittens, ensured no one caught cold. Besides, helping "blossoming" debutantes out of such gear, to reveal lusciously bear shoulders and artfully arranged cleavage, barely held in by low-cut ball gowns, made it an even greater delight for their hormonal teenage escorts. It was truly debutantes galore….all gift-wrapped for the occasion.

St. Louis "society" in those days was not just affluent it was filthy rich, from mostly so- called "old money"…which wartime industry profits simply made grander. In its day it was the jet-set, with private railcars, ocean liners, and the occasional airplane, instead of private jets. But, wealth was not the critical measure of social status there. Family lineage and connections (the more ancient French-related the better) determined how one was allowed to be part of it. So, tradition and ceremonial social rituals were of great importance. And part of that was the cardinal rule of – noblesse oblige – the class obligation which required doing good things for the less fortunate of the community.

So while Christmas was the occasion for much merrymaking and conspicuous consumption (not to mention as much fun and games with the opposite sex as could be had), it still involved certain civic activities, such as fund raising for various charitable city programs.

One of the ways funds were raised in that season was with –carolers – In each and every neighborhood groups of a dozen, or more, were organized and licensed to go door to door in their designated area to –carol- for donations. Each group carried a red painted specially capped, sealed, and numbered, water bucket, in which donations received were inserted through a slot in the cover. At the end of the caroling, these buckets were then turned in to the city's collection centers set up for that purpose.

Thus, there was great competition to put together as large and as well-voiced a group as possible, for those who undertook that duty. The larger and better costumed and sounding groups of carolers always got more and bigger donations. It was a fine way to support charitable programs and social services.

Our gilded youth, naturally, engaged in some serious maneuvering and campaigning to get the best possible group together. Of course, ulterior motives were also in play. Everyone vied for getting paired up with some of the "hottest" bimbettes, and "hunkiest" stud muffins available. To be frank, we "hunks" never really had any control over the situation. The "hotties" were the real deciders about who was going to be with whom. And most of the time, being hormonal teenagers, we stud-muffins didn't really care what they decided for us. Just being part of such a mob, and having a shot at some fantasied moments of bliss to be….was good enough.

The system worked like this: Right after Thanksgiving, the grand dames and chaperons of society would begin making calls to gather these packs of civic minded youth. Eventually, formal invitation cards would arrive, giving the selectees their assigned group number, and where the first get-together for practice and rehearsal would be. This was usually at someone's mansion house either on mansion row facing Forest Park, or, at one of St. Louis' peculiar gated-block enclaves (a number of which still remain in what is now known as the West End).

These gatherings were somewhat informal, but food and drink spreads were the norm, and rehearsals tended to degenerate into some serious partying. Still, things were never allowed to go beyond certain limits. Fun and hi-jinks were okay, but we were there to work up some good routines, so, somehow, this was usually achieved at an acceptable level of quality despite all that.

Somewhere around the middle of December, the holiday balls and cotillions began, intermixed with private parties and other gatherings. For the better part of two weeks it was round after social round, leaving of an evening, only returning in the wee hours of morning. Sleep…became an unknown luxury.

The big day arrived on Christmas Eve. Dressed in our finest costumes, we gathered at the designated house. There we had a light buffet spread, and other goodies to help keep us warm, were handed our donation bucket (now decked out with a few decorations), and off we'd go….caroling around our assigned area, collecting donations, and otherwise having a grand old time of it. One of the main reasons for that being many of the folks who opened their doors to our caterwauling, besides their donations, would also insist on providing us with eggnog, toddies, hot rum punch, and so on. By the end of our caroling time, our condition was "wobbly" to say the least.

So we would troop back to where we had started, to warm and otherwise revive ourselves. This required close huddling (and cuddling) by the nearest fireplace available, as we told and re-told some of the zanier aspects of our caroling efforts. Then, it was time for the main event of Christmas Eve. It was a long standing tradition, and everyone in St. Louis, regardless of denomination, did their best to be there for midnight mass at the Cathedral.

The St. Louis Cathedral is a full scale replica of the Byzantine St. Sophia, in Istanbul. Its domed spaces are stupendous, easily containing thousands of people. Its mosaics rival the grandest in the world, covering every nook and cranny from floor to top of its domes. And when it is all lit up for that occasion, the setting is truly awe inspiring. Thus the combination of that mass's rituals, the live nativity scenes, the massive organ, and the choirs, culminating with everyone there joining their voices with these for a truly impressive rendition of Handel's Messiah, made that Midnight Mass event the one place in the city where everyone tried to be. It was a grand community tradition.

And on that Christmas Eve, 1944, everyone there was especially moved. Thankful for the possible end of the war in Europe, and desperately hoping it would soon be over in the Pacific. It was a spiritually and otherwise heartfelt moment.

Even so, though somewhat sobered by it all, we trooped back afterwards for the traditional post-mass feast, this time at the mansion of another designated host for the occasion. Snow was falling, and someone in the group had arranged for a half dozen sleighs to carry us all to it. Our destination was only some six or seven blocks away, but it was a truly –Jingle Bells – moment. By the time we arrived there we were all in a strong party mood again.

I don't recall much about that party, beyond it being one of the plushest and festive ones yet. The mansion had a huge ball room, with a hot jazz band which soon had everyone cavorting in complete abandon. Its main dining room had a most opulent buffet spread, laid out on one of the biggest and most massive conference tables I'd ever seen, covered with several damask spreads that almost reached to the floor. Ice sculptures, and other decorations, made it a feast for the eyes, not just our mouths. And the sideboards held an array of eggnog, brandy and rum punches, which uniformed servants kept refilling as fast as their contents disappeared. It was enough to make Lucullus jealous.

Well, at some point in the festivities, I eventually found myself on the floor, under that table, happily sandwiched between two luscious debutantes who had apparently joined me there…all three of us dead to the world, closely cuddled together under several fur coats tumbled over us. Neither of the young ladies stirred, as I came to, tried to stretch, staring at the underside of that table and wondering what sort of secret magical cave I had stumbled into. Slowly, I began extricating myself from between these two lovelies, still gift-wrapped in their fancy gowns, still dead to the world, softly purring away, with the residual of their perfumes, and their warmth, making me sorely tempted to just stay put…and enjoy the situation even longer.

But I sensed it was coming on to dawn, and I had to get home to meet my obligations there. Christmas morning was not a time to be late or absent from my grandmother's traditional planned gathering for it. So, giving each of my ladies a chaste peck on the cheek, and an impish pat on their rumps, I managed to worm myself from between them, and out from under that table.

Standing up and stretching, I looked about the room. All around me were others curled up or otherwise laid out, still in their party clothes, and all dead to the world too. The festivities must have really ended with a crash.

Straightening out my tux, which was a wrinkled and spotted mess, I wobbled out towards the entry hall of that mansion where I somehow managed to find my coat, hat, muffler, and gloves, quietly opened the front door, and then stepped outside.

It was still dark, but a faint glimmer of dawn was beginning to show. Snow was ankle deep. The cold air hit my face like a thousand tiny needles. Though not far away, only six blocks or so, it was going to be a hard slog, so I started trotting, my footfalls muffled by the snow. All the while I kept happily humming to myself. It had been one hell of a Christmas Eve celebration. My only unhappiness about it was that I had absolutely no idea who those lovely girls under the table with me were (and to this day I've never found out. C'est la vie).

About a block away from my grandmother's place, I slowed to a walk. The house near the corner was a familiar one, but I knew very little about those neighbors. In fact few of us knew anything about them, and, unlike most of the other houses on that block, this one seemed strangely dark and undecorated. But, as I passed the walkway leading up to their front porch, I noticed something. One of the windows had two small Christmas lights feebly casting a glow on something hanging between them. For some reason I needed to see what it was.

I had barely taken two steps towards that window, when I realized what it was. It was the little banner families hung in their windows, with a blue star, to show one of theirs was serving the country. But this one was different, because it had not one but two….gold stars.

The realization of what that meant came as a shock. While I had been partying all night, these folks only had that little banner with two gold stars to hang up in their window, with just two small lights for decoration. I ran as fast as I could the rest of the way home, too shamed to do anything else but crawl into bed as soon as I got there, praying I would never forget what sacrifices those two gold stars signified, so that the rest of us could celebrate the joy of Christmas as we did.

It was a hard lesson learned.

CENTURION

Caribou herds of Shoppers

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE

Special Issue – Dec 2010

CARIBOU HERDS OF SHOPPERS
(stampeding through the malls)

Ah, good old Christmas time!

It seems that regardless of the circumstances, no matter what the state of the country might be in, Black Friday is always the start of a massive stampede through the malls….all in the name of ….bargains, bargains, bargains.

The scenes of frantic shoppers bashing and smashing their way through opening doorways, reminds me of those migrating herds of caribou, relentlessly plowing their way through deepest snow, shying away from trailing wolf packs, and other obstacles, just to reach whatever ultimate destination their instincts drive them to seek.

For me, none of that has much meaning or relation to what we once called…. Christmas. Oh, sure, we still have all the traditional sound effects and symbols scattered around us. Canned sound tracks of –Jingle Bells-, or, - Jingle Bell Rock – etc., Salvation Army bell ringers, politically correct light-weight Santas, lights of every color combination imaginable, and, the finest of fake plastic trees our Chinese friends can produce (some even with an artificial pine scent….probably from a bit of sprayed on Pinesol…baby!), all, to get us in the mood. A mood to shop, shop, and shop….till we drop.

Somehow, all of these things just don't make it even begin to look like Christmas anymore, and, given that, maybe they should give the lyrics of that song an extreme make-over. They no longer fit the situation.

Well, I've come up with my own counter to all this annual moment of madness for a latter-day ersatz holiday. A few years back, I had a large wreath of mostly spiny and thorny branches made up. It's a good two feet in diameter. Across this brambled excuse for a Christmas decoration on the front door, is a wide bright red ribbon, on which, in big white letters, you can read the following -WARNING! HIBERNATING GRIZZLY.DO NOT DISTURB TILL APRIL- And so….no one does.

Which is fine by me because that leaves me in a blissfully tranquil place, comfortably eased back in my chair, a snifter filled with a generous ration of old, old, cognac in one hand, and extracted-from-its-refrigerated-plastic-hideaway, one of Cuba's finest, slimmest, cheroots, in the other. Now,THAT, makes it begin to truly feel, look, and sound like Christmas.

Mush, you caribou, mush!

CENTURION

Veterans At Ocean Beach

You have to watch this. It's a kick in the ass!


LT Bobby Ross

Pnags of Cold War Reflux Disease

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE

Special Issue – Nov 2010

PANGS OF COLD WAR REFLUX DISEASE

(from its last pawn still standing)

I left Korea some sixty years ago, grown old, at 22, from that brief experience there. I've never been back.

Today, North Korea is the last Cold War pawn still standing, still being manipulated in the same moves and counter-moves of that era between China and America. And after all that passage of time, despite the fact that the Cold War has passed into history, and relations between China and America have evolved, nothing seems to have changed. China is still manipulating that pawn, creating pangs of Cold War Reflux Disease for America and its South Korean ally.

Plainly, at this point in our mutual history, this is a ridiculous situation. A situation neither China nor the America really need or want. So why is it still going on?

In part, because, the inmates of China's North Korean asylum have not only progressively taken over their asylum, they have also managed to acquire nuclear capabilities along the way. In the process they have morphed from just being an extreme totalitarian application of the Communist gospel, into a very avaricious and ruthless kleptocracy. One which maintains its grip on power solely for the purpose of keeping everything worth anything there, in their hands, and no one else's. Ideology is just the means to that end.

Meanwhile, China's commissars have evolved from their ideological perspectives into a very affluent and octopus-like oligarchy of their own, whose tentacles reach into almost every nook and cranny of their empire. The difference, of course, is the more sophisticated and silky-smooth way they've gone about it. The irony, of course, is that they have simply come full circle, and reverted back to the same formula so successfully applied by their former imperial ancestors over the past five thousand years. Simply put, whereas before their kleptocrats and oligarchs wore yellow silk, today's version wears red underwear. Other than that…nothing much has changed.

Here, in America, our own kleptos have become an oligarchic class of ever growing influence and power. Different in style, perhaps, but essentially, cut from the same cloth as their Chinese counterparts. It's no wonder then that they get along so well, with each one vying to see which one can be quicker and slicker at cheating the other. So, this last relic of the Cold War should be a mutual embarrassment, because its unpredictability and paranoia could really gum up the works of such a game for both China and America.

For no other reason then, it's time to put it down as firmly and strongly as possible, because these Pyongyang morons may draw both into another useless military meat-grinder situation. We lost too many of the best and brightest of our youths the last time, and the thought of it happening again because of some pretentious miscalculations on their part, stirs a great upwelling of anger and disgust in me.

The big question now is why China is being so mute and seemingly unengaged in this current situation? With hardly any effort it could squash its upstart pawn, now gone rogue, like a bug if it wanted to. Instead it continues to stall and equivocate about it.

The answer may be multi-facetted. That is:

a) It may not really have as much control over it as it once had, and, because China's former commissars are now its klepto/oligarchic leadership busily making their fortunes while expanding their country's global economic domination and power, they prefer to let that sleeping dog lie, unless and until it is absolutely necessary to put it down.

b) Its continued presence on China's front porch, so to speak, keeps America off-balance and distracted, making that nuclear capable pawn a useful bargaining chip in whatever negotiations it might engage with it.

c) Lastly, it is a useful buffer against the economic and social dynamism of South Korea. So long as it sustains the Pyongyang mob in power, China is guaranteed that there is no possibility of a re-unified and booming Korean Republic, smack dab against its borders. That would be a much too dangerous model of a relatively open and prosperous society influencing its own internal elements of dissent. And the temptation for cross-border defections would just be too strong.

So, perhaps now is the time for us to bluntly ask China – which is more important to you, us….or them? Maybe then it will be possible to formulate an effective joint-action to permanently contain these North Korean fits of insanity.

Even so, until Peking's oligarchs become convinced that getting rid of Pyongyang's hierarchs will be to their financial advantage, and won't disrupt their grip on the levers of political power….nothing will change. North Korea will remain an irritating boil on the ass of the global community, which only a violent "lancing" will ever do away with it.

But, for everyone involved, that is the very worst kind of Russian roulette game to be playing.

CENTURION

Rembering Past Thanksgivings

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE

Special Issue – Nov 2010

REMEMBERING PAST THANKSGIVINGS

(while now it's only….turkey for two)

There was a time, way back, when Thanksgiving was a time for an annual gathering of the family clan, with a horde of kinfolk, not to mention a few friends, neighbors, and even the occasional lone acquaintance found at loose ends and drawn in for the occasion.

And, naturally, having such a large assemblage of eager mouths ready to gorge on all that a well stocked farmstead could provide required a logistical operation worthy of the Army. A logistical operation launched well in advance of the day itself. One which required an annual bartering exercise with neighboring farmers….a bushel of our prized black walnuts in exchange for the largest and freshest turkey critter that could be found, well buffed up from a finishing diet of corn and other goodies that turn turkeys into gourmands. Sweet potatoes and corn (still in its green husks), exchanged for a couple of gallons of our own honey bees endless production (three hives of them), and home-churned butter, from the creamy contributions of our tiny sweet Jersey family cow (more of a pet than a bulk milk producer), for sweet peas, string beans, or whatever else we didn't produce ourselves. All in all, a few weeks of frenzied activity in preparation for the main event resulted in a cornucopia of mostly home grown edibles.

Then, of course, there was a whole lot of baking to be done…. biscuits, rolls, pies, cookies, even a cake or two. All of them produced from scratch, from our own eggs, butter, cream, walnuts, and hazel nuts.

And while the womenfolk were busy with these most critical aspects of the preparations, my father, our tenant farm-hand, and I, chopped, stacked, and prepared plenty of stove and fireplace wood to keep the entire system from coming to a halt. Besides the chopping and hauling of wood, my main duties were to take care of our Jersey, gather eggs from my step-mother's prized chickens, and otherwise keep both the old wood-fired brick oven, the cook stove, and all the fireplaces in good working order (the house was a relic of Colonial times, so most of its "modern" amenities were limited to the bathrooms, and things electrical).

Eventually, the time for feasting finally arrived. My late uncle, a career naval officer of salty reputation, was traditionally given the task of saying grace because, much to my aunt's displeasure, he would always conclude the ritual with a sign of the cross and his anticipated roaring quarter-deck-voice-in-a-hurricane…"Now hear this! All you turkeys….GET STUFFED!" At which point the whole assembly would applaud, laugh, and with loud merriment, stampeded itself upon all the goodies spread out onto the heirloom antique cherry wood dining table (extended with its extra leaves for the occasion). And stuffing itself….it did. Living was indeed good in those times.

Today, however, most of them have long been gone. Those of us still round are scattered across the country and in different parts of the world. Too far away, and too complicated to consider having a similar gathering of the clan. Besides, a small apartment in the middle of an urban area just wouldn't work too well for such an occasion.

So, as an elderly couple, my wife and I have worked out a comfortable mini-version of those past grand feastings….it's turkey for two. And for those who find themselves at a loss about what to do for Thanksgiving when there are only two people to share it, perhaps this formula should work well for them also.

There's no such thing as a "small" turkey, so rather than spending a frustrating time looking in vain for one, we just buy a nice two- turkey-thighs pack. Its price and quantity being ideal for the occasion, with hardly any left-overs or heavy cleaning up to do. A simple home-made batch of dressing, a quick freshly made whole berry cranberry sauce, a scattering of sweet potatoes baked in their skins, a tossed salad, perhaps even a homemade apple pie, and, voila….a modest but satisfying Thanksgiving feast…for two….a bit of wine…optional.

Of course, old traditions still linger, so I pick up where my late uncle left off, saying grace, making the sign of the cross, while voicing….ALL YOU TURKEYS….GET STUFFED! And much as my poor old aunt did long ago, the wife scowls, shakes her head….then breaks into a giggling fit, as we set to…and get…. stuffed.

Living is still good.

CENTURION

Groping For Security

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE

Special Issue – Nov – 2010

GROPING FOR SECURITY

(the friendly skies are getting way too  friendly)

It's difficult to decide whether the latest security procedures implemented by our TSA are, indeed, serious efforts to make our air travel here in America even safer than before, or, just another example of bureaucratic knee-jerk reactions to continuing threats and incidents attempted against us.

On the face of it we have the impression that the TSA has applied an ancient Chinese solution for dealing with 1000 suspects, among which there is at least one known criminal. That is, lop off all 1000 heads, and voila, you have the guarantee that you've eliminated that one criminal. The rest, to use a modern euphemism, are simply – collateral damage.

Granted, with the volume of travelers flying hither and yon, it is a problem trying to figure out how to separate wing nuts having nasty kinds of death wishes….from everyone else. Still, one would think that there has to be a way to go about it without classifying the rest of us as "suspects."

Super vision technology, with see-through capabilities, is apparently one answer to that problem. Of course, such equipment is very expensive, and, there are some unknown health risks from it, particularly for those who are very frequent flyers, who thus have to go through that gauntlet more than the rest of us. Minimal radiation is still – radiation- and such a process does have cumulative effects. As for the groping for security part, that's just making the friendly skies way too friendly for my tastes. And a lot of others probably feel the same.

So, what can be done about that? The answer I've come up with may not please everyone, but, I do believe it might make the process seem less distasteful…..that is….allow travelers to choose which gender they prefer to have for that groping procedure. For myself, I'd feel much less offended being groped by a burly female TAS agent, than otherwise, others, might prefer the opposite.

Oh well, as they say in la belle France….chacun a son degout.

CENTURION

It just takes political rhetoric to do nothing

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE
Special Issue – Nov 2010

IT JUST TAKES POLITICAL RHETORIC TO DO NOTHING
(but it takes political guts to do….something)

Our recent – Second American Revolution – may have altered the political landscape, and rattled the cages of many career politicos in both of the major parties; but, from the hot air rhetoric now being exhaled by these back in Washington, any expectations that we tax-paying voters might have had that such a revolution was going to create some real change there….are rapidly dimming.

Like all losers in an election battle, especially when they really get a "shellacking" like this one, the Democrats are now crying in their political beers, and whining about the need for bi-partisanship to solve our country's problems. Last time…it was the Republicans doing the same moaning. One might call it political – kharma – I suppose.

On the other hand, the Republicans, flush from their election victories aren't saying much of anything meaningful about anything….and doing even less, beyond licking their political chops in anticipation of ripping as much of the Obama agenda to shreds as possible.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are left still sucking eggs, and wondering if anything will ever be right again. So much for "revolution".

So what were we expecting to happen from this last political donnybrook? Actually, not much, only, at least, we did want some reasonable token efforts to set us back on a decently forward path, such as:

1) In a momentary bout of leadership-by-example, we thought they might announce a collective agreement to call for a 10% cut in compensation for everyone in the Federal structure for the next two years. That is, starting from the President, all Cabinet members, all Agency heads, and all members of Congress, plus all the rank and file of the aparatnik bureaucracy as well. Instead, they are making further moves to go in the opposite direction, seeking further increases above and beyond what they've already received from us.

2) That they would quietly, without further debate or argument, extend the current tax rates for another two years. Instead, they are indulging in their usual class warfare debates about who deserves them or not.

3) As a token of their "serious concerns" about our deficit spending and ever increasing national debt loads, propose that every fiscal year budget for the same two years would have a 15% across the board cut, right off the top.

While the cumulative impacts of such bi-partisan action might only provide modest forward reduction effects on our deficit spending habits and the national debt, it would demonstrate to both we taxpayers here at home, and to the rest of the world at large, that America was making a positive effort, having finally displayed real political – leadership-, and our country was now heading in a good direction. A few baby steps, to be sure, but at least they would be forward baby steps. As the old financial adage puts it that would be - cash now, money later.

All of which would do much to restore confidence with business and industry, providing a better certitude about the near term future. In turn, that would further motivate these sectors to consider expanding and hiring again, thereby beginning a trend that would slowly reduce the currently unacceptable level of unemployment.

Lastly, of course, we should not forget all those empty promises made back in'06 and '08 that our troops would be out of both Iraq and Afghanistan, and all brought home. Those promises have not only not been kept they have been largely abandoned. Many of those troops now seem doomed to remain in both places for some time to come, at a continuing cost in the blood of our finest youths, and billion dollar drains on our treasury. So, instead, perhaps now is the time to tell both of them – We've done everything possible to help you get back on your feet, but for the past nine years, you've just picked out pockets, while our troops did the dying for you, and neither of you have ever gotten your acts together. Now, shape up, quit playing games with us, or we're out of here….tomorrow. You and the Taliban and al Queda all deserve each other…or words to that effect.

Which leaves us with a big question. Do any of us really believe that this new pack of career politicos we've been dumb enough to vote back into office again, have either the smarts or the political guts to take such actions?

Even money says….they don't.

CENTURION

FACING THE AFTERMATH

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE
Special Issue – Nov 2010

FACING THE AFTERMATH
(means moving forward briskly – lest the past gain on us)

If nothing else, this midterm election has shown that when the American electorate gets riled up – career politicos can, and do, find themselves unemployed, replaced either by insurgent neophytes to the political arena; or, by those politicos who were quick and clever enough to have changed their spots, to keep themselves feeding at the trough of "public service."

Whether that's a good thing, or not, is hard to say. The way things are, the neophytes might not do any better for us, but, they certainly can't do any worse. As for those politicos claiming to have changed their spots, they're still leopards, so we can only hope such a political shake up will have convinced them to really change their usual ways as well. Of course, that's a long shot. We'll just have to wait and see if they really have.

The hard reality we face today is that there are no quickie fixes for our many problems…. jobs, taxes, deficit spending, a humongous debt load, home foreclosures, a devalued dollar (almost on life support), all combined with meager economic growth, etc.. All of these issues are interconnected. It will take considered and carefully thought out measures just to begin resolving them. Knee-jerk reactions that might stampede us in the wrong directions, in the wrong way….just won't cut it. So clearly, let's hope that all those we've now put into office are people who will focus on doing what's right for the country as a whole, rather than for any particular interest.

That's a tall order, and we shouldn't be naïve or delude ourselves that they'll live up to our expectations. Neophytes or old hands….they're all still political animals.

Well, it's one hell of a load of manure we've allowed to pile up in this American barn of ours, so let's just watch and see how they go about cleaning it out.

Meanwhile, let's keep our own pitchforks handy, just in case we need to remind them again…in 2012.

CENTURION

NEVER MIND MILLER....IT'S VOTING TIME!

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE
Special Issue – Nov-2010

NEVER  MIND MILLER….IT'S VOTING TIME!
(it's a serious occasion….so no mail-in procedure for me)

Tomorrow, at the earliest I can bestir myself from my slumbers, I'm going to crank up and get ready for my usual ritual of getting primed to get out there and go vote….in person. Never mind MILLER….it's voting time! It's a serious occasion….so no mail-in procedure for me.

I don't know about anyone else out there, but all these new gimmicks to make voting "easier", more "convenient", and otherwise less of a "burden" is nonsense. They diminish  not only its meaning, but the value of that right as well.

Too many people seem to have gotten fat and lazy about – voting – these days.  Many don't even register to exercise that right. Others, though registered, just don't bother to vote, equating it apparently with another citizen's right (and duty)….jury service. What they overlook is…IF YOU DON'T VOTE….YOU DON'T COUNT!

I suppose it's a matter of values, what's important. Hell, they'll line up in droves, to camp out all night, just to be the first in line for the opening doors of a "blowout" sale at Walmart, Target, Macy's, or even Nike, to get their hands on some cheaply made-in- China or elsewhere imported "stuff", palmed off on them as a deal….at over-inflated prices. But….having to stand in line to vote….or spend maybe an hour….to do so. No on your Nelly! Horrors!

As for me, I like to make it a formal ritual, giving the exercise of my right to vote its proper respect.

Though rising early for the occasion, I will have myself a nice leisurely breakfast of some favorites. All the while, solemnly re-browsing through my sample ballot, verifying my initial selections, or, making any final changes I think are necessary. In this instance, having previously decided not to support any Democratic or Republican candidate for any office, I'm re-checking the alternative choices for each of the offices in play. There aren't a lot of them, but they do pique my interest, so I go over these again, narrowing things down to an ultimate choice.

 It's a process of elimination for me, mostly determining which ones seem to have the most likely and broadest perspectives, rather than any single issue narrow focus. It's not easy, but I'll soon have my picks sorted out . Frankly, it's a lot like trying to pick a winner at the racetrack, either way, you pay your money and you take your chances. But the way things are these days, and in our present circumstances, the odds are about even for making an alternative voting selection this way. They sure as hell can't be any worse than what we're being offered by our two major parties.

Well, that's what and how I'll vote tomorrow. It's my right as a citizen of this great republic of ours, and the devil take the hindmost!

Besides, if none of these yoyos work out, I can then righteously bitch and moan, rave and rant about anything. Democracy let's you vote –dumb-  as well as – smart -.

CENTURION   

Fair Tax by Neal Boortz

Incumbent Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln .. Struggling for her Political life in Arkansas.. Runs an ad saying that her opponent, Republican John Boozaman, is "excited about putting a 23 percent National sales tax on everything you buy." In the Colorado Senatorial Race polls show Democrat Michael Bennet trailing Republican Ken Buck by As much as five percent, Bennet is running ads saying that under Buck's Tax reform plan a bag of groceries could cost $11 more and your Prescription drugs could cost over a hundred dollars more.

 

In North Carolina's 8h Congressional District Republican Harold Johnson Is hoping to oust Democrat Larry Kissell. There we have the NEA (National Education Association) Fund for Children and Public Education Running an ad replete with the sounds of a crowd attending a college Football game (note the appeal to sports fans) and an announcer saying "It's Harold Johnson Tax Day at the game, where every fan pays a 23% National sales tax." The ad goes on to say the tax would be added to Tickets, hot dogs, groceries and gas."

 

That's all rather frightening, isn't it? After all, who would want to See their grocery, gas, food, prescription drug - or any other bill, for That matter - increased by 23%? Answer: Not a soul. So what sane Candidate would ever propose such a tax increase? Answer: No sane Candidate would.

 

So ... Where are these ads coming from? Even the most baseless of attack Ads must have a grain truth to hold on to, if for no other reason than To avoid generating nothing other than ridicule and laughter.

 

Congressman Larry Kissell, Senator Blanche Lincoln and the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education are all aiming these attack ads on Opponents who support The FairTax (H.R. 25), a bill introduced by Retiring Republican John Linder from Georgia.

 

Is the FairTax really that frightening? Would it add 232 percent to the Cost of your groceries and prescriptions? Hardly. The ads mislead, and Those who run them know full well they mislead. If you read on to the End of this column you will be a fan of the proposal at best, or seeking More information at worst. One thing is certain. You'll soon see that Lincoln, Kissell, the NEAFCPE and other Democratic candidates who are Running scare ads against FairTax supporters are engaged in an attempt To deliberately mislead voters about this bill and the candidates who Support it. You might even say that they are deliberately lying.

 

In 2005 Congressman Linder and I teamed together to write The FairTax Book. We debuted No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller's list. Now Think about that: A book about tax reform coming out as No. 1. Something There must have stirred the imagination of lovers of great literature.  Two years later we published "FairTax, The Truth; Answering theCritics." Yet another NYT Bestseller's List debut. Here I take on the Task of condensing well over 115,000 words from two books into one Column to explain this tax reform idea. To offer the truth and to Embarrass those who created the attack ads.

 

First: H.R. 25, The FairTax Act, could well be the most thoroughly Researched piece of legislation ever introduced in our Congress. About $22 million private-sector dollars worth of research from some of our Most brilliant economists and academics went into the development of This plan. Compare this, if you will, to the dollars and time spent on Researching ObamaCare. The FairTax is not a hare-brained idea thrown Together in a legislative flurry to be passed quickly so that people Could then find out what's in it.

 

Let's answer the primary charge first. Does the FairTax really establish A 23% national sales tax? Yes, it does. Does it add that tax to the Price of your groceries? Not really. Here's what the attackers don't Tell you. The key here is that the FairTax first removes all of the Embedded taxes that are already contained in the price of all consumer Items. The FairTax is added as a replacement for already existing taxes, Not an addition to those taxes. The retail price of the item remains Essentially the same.

 

What are these embedded taxes? We'll use the example of a pair of shoes, And start with the cow. Somewhere a rancher raised a cow that was Destined to become your next pair of shoes. That rancher purchased feed, Medicines, veterinary services and supplies and a host of other items to Assist in the raising of our cow. Every one of the businessmen who Supplied those products or services had a tax obligation to the federal Government to fulfill, and every one of those businessmen would then Incorporate that tax liability in pricing their services to our rancher. The rancher also has his own federal tax liabilities to put into the Mix.

 

At some point the rancher sells the cow to a processing plant. The meat goes in one direction, other less savory body parts in another, and the hide to a tanner. The rendering plant has its own federal tax liabilities that will be incorporated into the price charged for these cow components.

 

The hide eventually arrives at the shoe manufacturing (furniture, belt manufacturing - whatever) company, there to be turned into a shoe. Along with the hide our shoemaker is receiving metal eyelets, dyes, shoelaces, rubber soles and fabric inserts; all arriving with their own share of federal tax costs to their manufacturers, distributors and transporters. The shoe is then trucked to your shoe store with all of those taxes embedded into the price. The retailer then adds his tax bite and other costs, plus a few percent for profit, to the shoe and in you walk with credit card in hand.

 

What's the final tax tab? That's where some of the $22 million in research went; arriving at that figure. The embedded taxes in an item you buy at retail can range from 19 percent to 26 percent or more, depending on the article. The average was determined to be around 22 percent.

 

Here's where the FairTax steps in. The FairTax removes all of these tax components from the price of every service or item you purchase. How? By completely eliminating all federal taxes on business. Including income taxes, self-employment taxes, capital gains taxes, the businessman's share of payroll taxes .... ALL of it. Gone! The same goes for you! The FairTax eliminates all personal federal income taxes, capital gains taxes, dividend taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes, and the estate tax. Gone. IRS paperwork, tax forms and audits? Gone. In fact .... IRS? Gone!

 

Where are we thus far? The FairTax is passed, and the 22 percent embedded tax in everything you buy is eliminated. Then a 23 percent national retail sales tax, the FairTax, is embedded in the price of your retail purchases. You buy a $100 toaster, the receipt says "Toaster - $77.00. FairTax - $23.00." Why 23%? Exhaustive research showed that this would be the tax rate necessary to achieve revenue neutrality. The FairTax is tax reform, not government reform. One thing at a time. The goal was to keep the revenue stream to government at the same level after the FairTax as before. Under the FairTax, then, How much more would a $50 bag of groceries cost? Not the $11 that Bennet's attack ad on Buck suggests. How about fifty cents? Quite a difference. Suddenly Bennet's ad loses a bit of its steam, doesn't it?

 

Consider, also, what happens to your personal finances! If you happen to live in a state with a state income tax you might want to have some serious discussions with your local legislators ... but if you live in Texas, Florida, Tennessee or one of the other six states with no income tax, the elimination of your federal tax burden means you get 100% of your pay every two weeks. If you're hired at $1000 a week you know that your check every two weeks will be $2000. Plus .. there will be no more record keeping, receipt saving, accountant hiring or any of the other pains that accompany your efforts to comply with a federal tax code.  April 15th becomes just a nice Spring day .. maybe even your birthday or anniversary ... but nothing else.

 

Here's a question: Let's say you're in a 25 percent federal income tax bracket. Would you rather pay 25 percent of everything you earn? Or would you rather pay 23 percent of everything you spend?

 

Think about this. With the FairTax you only pay taxes to the federal government when you spend at the retail level. Save the money .. No federal taxes. Invest the money .. no federal taxes. Keep the money in your checking account .. no federal taxes. Give the money to your children .. no federal taxes. Pass away with boxes of money stacked up in your house .. no federal taxes.

 

You're really starting to hate this idea now, aren't you?

 

Here's the cherry on the FairTax sundae. When the FairTax plan was being developed it was thought, and people in focus groups confirmed, that nobody should ever have to pay a penny of their earnings to government until they had first taken care of the needs of their family. What is the moral justification for allowing the government to seize a portion of your earnings before you've taken care of your family's needs for the basic necessities of life? The designers of the FairTax were determined to find a solution to this problem, and came up with the "prebate."

 

The government publishes Federal Poverty Guidelines every year. These figures are supposed to represent the amount that families of varying sizes would have to spend every year to meet their basic needs. The FairTax plan calls for every head of household in the country - legally in the country - to get a "prebate" at the beginning of each month equal to the amount of the FairTax that person will pay during the following month while purchasing those basic necessities. That poverty level for a family of four is $22,050. This equals $1,837.50 per month in spending, of which $423 would be FairTax. At the beginning of each month this head of household would receive a credit to his checking account, debit card or credit card in the amount of $423. This means that no citizen or legal resident of this country would ever pay one penny in tax to the federal government before his or her family needs were met. The prebate is what caused a focus group participant to blurt out "Well, that's a fair tax!" Hence the name.

 

Are there downsides to the FairTax? Yes, as a matter of fact -- one huge downside, if, that is, you're a member of the political class. The FairTax would be the most massive transfer of power from government to the people since this country was founded. Politicians have this strange aversion to giving up power. Another problem is that, as Democrats are now illustrating, the FairTax is very easy to demagogue. If honesty isn't your forte you can tell people that your opponent wants to add a 23 percent sales tax to everything you buy without including the pesky little details. As Politifac.com says: "Our bigger issue with the Lincoln ad - and a number of similar ads being run against Republicans who have had nice things to say about the "Fair Tax" - is that it highlights support for a 23 percent national sales tax but fails to mention that it would replace federal income taxes. No matter what you think of the plan, that's a very deceptive omission."

 

When you condense over 100,000 words from two books into one column of around 2000 words, much must remain unsaid. There's the economic and jobs growth that would result from a system wherein people could do business without any tax component on capital and labor. There's the $300 to $500 billion in annual tax compliance costs that would be eliminated. That's just for starters.

 

If you want more information perhaps the two books mentioned at the beginning of this column might be a good place to start. There's also a great deal of information at http://www.fairtax.org/.

Voting Off-Party

THE CENTURION CHONICLE Special Issue – Oct - 2010

VOTING OFF PARTY
(if you don't care for jackasses or pachyderms anymore)

Among many folks who are registered, and actually vote, there seems to be the mistaken notion that they can only vote for candidates of either the Democratic or the Republican parties and, to do otherwise, is to waste their votes.

That's a completely false notion, and here's why….if like many of us you've come to the conclusion that you no longer care for either jackasses or pachyderms anymore, because neither give a damn about the taxpaying voters, then voting off-party, is the only way we can effect real "change".

Consider this – if a whole lot of folks did just that, both those two major parties would lose their strangleholds on the Congressional machinery. This is particularly important where it concerns the House of Representatives because the House controls matters of taxation policy, and how the tax revenues from that are to be spent.

Thus, if enough us voted for other than Democrat or Republican candidates, these would find themselves facing a caucus of non-party members in the House which they could neither control nor ignore, because it would be the balance of voting power needed to pass any bill or legislation. Simply put – such a caucus would have "leverage" disproportionate to its actual numbers.

And with that leverage we taxpayers might have a fighting chance to recapture the governance of our country from the hands of the career politicos who are running it for their interests, not ours. Perhaps even regaining enough to effect real "change" for our country to be what we want it to be, and, what we think it should be.

Well, it boils down to this….in a few more weeks all of us who do vote will have to make a tough choice….do we continue to vote in the same old lemming-minded way for the same career politicos dominating both of those parties, or, will we have the guts to vote off-party to effect whatever real "change" we can get?

As things are, doing so might not give us anything much better than what we have right now, but it sure as hell couldn't result in anything worse than what we have today.

CENTURION

Repeal the IRS, in Jesus' Name?

Politically, you are no doubt aware that the Neopublican Tea Party movement is not really political. It is fundamentally religious, and motivated by the same mentality that gave us Jim Jones, Cotton Mather, and the Dark Ages. For me, whatever I think about things like finance law or state's rights etcetc, that fact is enough to take a stand against it, which today means against the Republican Party's candidates, all of them, however I might feel about the good principles of the classic fiscally-conservative GOP.

You do not vote "against the GOP" by voting for a third party, or a write in. Those votes do not count at all. You might as well stay home, or vote for Kermit The Frog. The ONLY number that matters is whether there are more who vote Democrat than Neopublican. Choose, and vote.

Read the whole article.

There Is No Tea Party.

It's pretty simple. There is no such thing as a "Tea Party Candidate." There is no Tea Party, just a street movement without organization or coherent ideology, whose "members" if elected do not have the power to get any bill passed. They are running as Republicans, but do not represent what that meant to your father's generation. The crowds in the straw hats with the "Obama is a niberaligger with a bone in his nose" signs know only what they don't want, and have no idea what to approve of... except for making Jesus (or whoever takes his name) the militant King of the world, a very un-democratic notion. There are a few "independents," but when elected they must either vote for the Democrats' bills, or as Republicans, against whatever the Demos propose, for better or worse. Basically, there are either the Democrats or the Neopublicans. That's it, like it or not. Both must tax somebody, because that is the only way any government can get money -- or borrow it from the bank and blame the next administration. The difference: the GOP will spend any amount to kill people in other countries, and the Demos would rather spend it keeping people alive in America, even the darkies and taco-benders. The GOP believes as long as the billionaires of Wall Street are reporting profits, and the B-52's are still burning 40,000 gallons of Arab gas per mission, the nation's economy is healthy. The Demos believe that is true only when the lowest classes have food, shelter, and bandaids.
If you're a dominion-cult jingoist with a military industrial stock portfolio, you'll probably vote for the Neo-cons no matter what. They will probably give you another war, as if we don't have enough enemies now. If you're not one of those, then a vote for anyone other than the Democrats will be the same as a vote for your Granny's goat. Choose.
James Post
THE ANTI-CYCLOPS PAPERS

KISS for Voters.

FOR STUPID VOTERS, KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Orwell had it right. Police are not the pigs, they are the dogs. The pigs are the patricians, the politicians and CEOs, intelligent but amoral, and they live only to fatten themselves. Remember the little pig Snowball, who tried to create public works to benefit all the animals? The pigs who traded the old working horse to the knacker for a box of jam had Snowball assassinated, called him a Jonesist, and then took credit for his ideas. They recognized most of the animals were not so smart, sheep, geese, and cattle, for whom the fine points of rhetoric went right over their heads, so they reduced every issue to a slogan. Today’s Neopublicans have done just that, and now have given us six such slogans which will answer most any question that can be put to them. Here they are:

1. The Red, White, and Blue.
2. Drill, Baby, Drill.
3. Don’t tax the boss.
4. Back to Jesus Christ.
5. Look at Clinton’s penis.
6. Duuh, Pelosi.

“What morally justifies whatever we do?” The Red, White, and Blue.
“What must be done to save the economy?” DBD, and DTB.
“How to save the education system?” Back to Jesus, and the RWB.
“What about corrupt Republicans?” Look at Clinton’s penis.
“What is wrong with Democrats’ policy?” Duuh, Pelosi.
“Why make war against Islam?” JC, RWB, & DBD, a trifecta.

You see how it works. Here is a subset of #6: “Why is global warming wrong?” Duuh. Al Gore. You could call, “Don’t give Mexicans my lunch,” a corollary to #3.
Go ahead, try it. How to make the Congress honest, and to work as one? Back to JC. What about vice, crime in the streets, and in the science labs and hospitals? That’s JC too, waging an unending zero-tolerance War On Sin. What about when they sin? One screws his secretary, gets his Mama to pay her and hires her husband on the public nickel. So? Obviously, look at Clinton’s penis, but what about someone who cooks the CIA and lies to the public to start a war for corporate profits? What about that? Hey, he didn’t get a blowjob and lie about it, did he? Clinton’s penis trumps any Bush card. Go ahead, try some, but be careful. They are just so sensible, and so believable, and so easy to remember, you might find yourself believing them. How could you have not seen it sooner? Duuh. Pelosi!


THE ANTI-CYCLOPS PAPERS

Yes, Candidate, Your Religion IS a Political Issue.

When the nation is polarized by religious schism in our politics, and that religion is calling for global war in the name of God, it is extremely important what a candidate for powerful office believes is fundamentally true. This is from my prophetic book FUNDAMENTAL BLASPHEMY written over twenty years ago.
James Nathan Post

Americans and many other people have spent the last few decades winning ground in the fight to obtain certain freedoms and rights in society. Today, more than at any previous time in our country’s history, we risk losing those rights — and not for being black, or women, or gay — we all stand to lose them. In fact, many will not even see it coming. Many will be cheering it on, yelling, “Hallelujah,” while the doors close right before their eyes, because it is going to be done in the name of good, in the name of morality, in the name of stopping crime, in the name of driving out sin, in the name of protecting our daughters from lust, and our sons from iniquity. It is going to be done in the name of God, in the name of creating a lawfully Christian America.

“Lead us not into temptation,” will be taken as a political mandate by the Saved Administration of Jesus Christ, American, President by Proxy, Lord and Fuhrer of the Righteous Revolution, the Crusade to Get America Going Right. When the Fundamentalist Right takes political control, they will use the power of the law, and of law enforcement, to see that young Christians will not have to suffer the temptations presented by the devil’s alternative lifestyles. From tits on TV to Tsiolkovsky, from Charles Darwin to Gary Gygax, they will purge and scourge all they touch in order to save young Christians from the temptation to make a wrong choice.

Americans who are unwilling to oppose figures of authority who violate the righteous principles for which their offices stand will permit the precedents of censorship to occur in the courts, and they will permit the zealots to obtain the seats of power. When the Christians then raise up the weapon we let them build to free our children of obscenity and undertake to cleanse our textbooks, libraries, marketplaces, the broadcast media, and our homes of subject matter which is blasphemous, and of that which is heretical, it will be too late to stop them.

Read all of this chapter here IF YOU LOVE JESUS BURN THIS BOOK!

9th Anniversary of 9/11 from LT Bobby Ross

It's been 9 years. On that dreadful morning, I was awakened by a phone call from one of my Nashville music producers. I was sound asleep in my bed in my condominium on Music Row. The voice on the other end told me I had better turn on my TV. I did. The first jet had crashed into the Twin Towers and the smoke was billowing. Shortly after that, I was picked up by some others of my Music City family and whisked away to another music producer's house where he and his wife and kids, and friends, for the rest of the day took care of me. They all knew, because of my 'condition' being a wounded warrior from the Vietnam Conflict that this was going to be hard on me. It was. One of the worst days of my life.

Here I am, 9 years later, sitting in my office in Sacramento, where I was born, writing this BLOG entry. I have not done so since last Spring. I have been unable to put into words my exact thoughts, so I've let the other writers on my www.centurionus.com web site carry the ball. This morning, I decided to post this entry.

In November, we are going to have a mid-term election. I think it could be the most important election of my lifetime. Why? Because it will pivot us, as a nation, to the Left, or the Right. We are in deep trouble. I don't think anyone reading this would doubt that. And, without me being specific, our country has reached a critical point in its history as a free Republic. We are up against many problems. Two wars, a Depression, drug dealing cartels on our Southern border, a once beautiful Gulf now polluted so badly it may never recover, the housing market in collapse, jobs scarce to none, our dollar weakening by the minute, our kids turning to gangs in high school rather than college, our teachers and police officers being laid off because of budget cuts, whole States going bankrupt, our Veterans in record numbers killing themselves, taxes totally in ascendancy, politicians so corrupt they are blatant, and on and on and on.

What is the bright side? Not too many willing to take that one on. But, I will. I have my garden. I have my birds and cats, and my organic seed farm, and I have peace of mind. As an individual, I have a great love for America. And, as a born optimist, I make it a habit of wasting my time on the positive instead of the dismissive. I care. I participate. I vote. Millions upon millions of we 'good Americans' do. Many lean to the Left. And scores of others tilt to the Right. Multitudes have left the Democrats and Republicans to be Independents. And most don't even participate. We, the few, the very few, do. And, as such, we carry the nation.

Sometimes one individual can only detect frustration by his or her actions of engaging in American politics. So many who don't vote say they are cowards and plebeian because their vote has no value. Others of the Laodicean cabal don't even go that far. These are the 'freeloaders'. In America, they actually have no real utility. Even the cockroach and mosquito can say they have more value than this. So, that vexation one often times feels by actually tossing some mud is normal. But, do not ever believe that mud does not stick.

I have climbed to the top of my Manure Pile for decades, and from its summit, I have yowled my heartaches and trepidation for decades. I earned that right in battle. But, more so, I was born with that inalienable rectitude. And anyone who thinks their voice is not important in our American Democracy is flawed.

Recently, on my birthday last Saturday, there were some speeches given in my City by the Bay, San Francisco, by some men who are running for office this coming November. I don't say I am responsible for this gathering. But, I am partially culpable. And I am just one voice. But, when you take my one utterance and hear many more singing the same song, that's what you call harmony. And, in our Republic, and as a result of our Democracy, this mellifluousness can change the universe. The People's Voice. In America, that changes things. And it all begins with that one mere individual utterance.

So, I will end this by saying I am happy today in my garden. I do remember the pain of 9/11. But, it is better for me to still be growing my flowers and vegetables of hope than to plow under my plat with hatred and impassivity. I encourage you to go to this web site and listen to the speeches of these 3 men. Actually, every word they speak is from my heart, as if it was me speaking. So it is my duty to spread these words for those of us, like all lost in 9/11, who are fluttering with the ghosts who gave all for our freedom.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9356473#utm_campaigne=synclickback&source=http://www.johndennis2010.com/pop&medium=9356473

LT Bobby Ross

LEST WE FORGET: A WARNING TO REMEMBER

Unless something goes terribly askew, Tea Party Republicans and their pretenders will probably secure the majority in both the House and the Senate with the election to be held in November.  That will just about make Obama a lame-duck president his last two years in office, which would be a good thing, considering all the damage he's done in his first two.  But I am already beginning to see and hear the Bush-type NeoCons rubbing their hands in gleeful anticipation, and this time we'd better have learned our lesson and keep them at arms length, or we will see the same mistakes made all over again.

 

The most harmful act ever perpetrated on the American people in the last twenty years was not the hijacking of four airliners by nineteen terrorists who used them to topple the Twin Towers, ram the Pentagon and kill 3,000 American citizens on September 11, 2001.  That event wasn't even close.  No, the most harmful act ever perpetrated on the American people in the entire history of the United States took place in 1993-94, when President Bill Clinton defied his own Democratic Party and signed Republican-sponsored bills committing the United States to global free trade agreements.  That insidious act, in and of itself, did far more harm to our nation than any Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Stalin or Mao could have ever hoped for or envisioned.

 

In the meantime, nobody is talking about it -- at all!  It seems everyone is so sidelined with silly emotion over a proposed Mosque two New York blocks from Ground Zero that they have literally lost their collective minds, and that is inexcusable.

 

NeoCon Republicans under Bush did nothing for small businesses that once provided the bulk of employment in this nation.  Every act committed and every bill signed by President Bush was specifically honed to benefit large, multi-national corporations, firms that have absolutely no loyalty to America or its citizens, but they do have lots of money to spend on elections.  Those massive firms wanted nothing more than to make money and make a few people fabulously wealthy, and presidents Clinton and Bush were their perfect, amoral patsies to get it done.

 

As a result of those free trade agreements, the United States is no longer a strong and respected super-power, and this was done to us from within.

 

It all happened very slowly and incrementally.  Here and there, American manufacturing companies layed off their work force, closed factories and moved their manufacturing operations to emerging nations like Communist China, Communist Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Mexico and anywhere else low labor costs, low taxes and non-existent environmental regulations attracted them.

 

And why would they want to stay here?  With the signing of the free trade agreements, If they didn't close up shop and move, it was obvious their competition would, so the American jobs would have been lost either way.  If the manufacturers moved overseas to low-labor ports, they could continue to produce products at much lower operating costs while still using the same high technology to produce goods as excellent as were made in the USA, but the corporate profits would be substantially greater.  With few or no trade restrictions, those corporate manufacturers began exporting their goods to the United States to sell them for just a few dollars less than an American-based manufacturer could, and faced with the choice between American-made and foreign-made products of the same quality, American consumers invariably opted for the less expensive, but equal, foreign products.  As a result, the few hold-out manufacturers remaining in the U.S. eventually could not compete and went out of business too.  The net result was the loss of tens of millions of family-wage-paying American jobs, and unless those free trade agreements are reversed and we once again become the manufacturing giant we once were, those family-wage-paying jobs will never return. 

 

Ever so slowly, the effects settled in.  Like a slow-growing, malignant tumor, most Americans hardly felt a twinge of discomfort at first.  A few jobs lost here, and a few jobs lost there, a plant closing here and there, and in the meantime the Stock Market inexplicably soared.  Government regulations were relaxed to the point the guy washing dishes at Denny's could buy a $300,000.00 home with creative financing -- financing that would make the same sucker homeless in a few years, but hey, people were making money!  As the housing bubble neared its inevitable ebb, even the newly unemployed could still make money by refinancing the equity out of their homes, and if all else failed, they could always rely on their credit cards.  Hardly anyone questioned the historic resilience of the U.S. economy, as if it were impregnable.  "The jobs will come back", many said, "but we are embarking on a new and 'better' American economy, one that does not rely on manufacturing, but more on service".

 

The environmentalists were more than giddy.  No longer would American manufacturers pollute our ground, air and water.  They were overjoyed to see all those steel mills and automobile manufacturing plants close up, and they didn't mind at all the fact that Americans with thirty years in manufacturing would now have to completely re-orient their lives by replacing one family-wage-paying job with two or three lower-paying jobs and no benefits.  After all, nationalized health care would remedy the latter, and those displaced folks needed to go back to school to learn a nice, clean, "green" trade anyway.  The environmentalist freaks thought it was all a splendid idea -- so long as it didn't affect them.

 

Almost all Americans now live in cities and suburban neighborhoods dotted with signs advertising foreclosed homes.  Downtown businesses all over the U.S. are closing down, with Main Street store front windows covered by cheap plywood.  Hardly anyone can find a job that payed as well as the one they lost, so they either collect unemployment benefits or they accept the lower-paying jobs when those benefits run out.  The standard of living most Americans enjoyed until 2005 or so is eroding downward, and it will continue to erode downward until American wages and benefits reach parity with the rising standard of living of the emerging nations who now do all the manufacturing we once did.  What we are witnessing is the destruction of a once great and powerful nation from within, and no Muslim did this to us.

 

The powers that be want as many Americans as possible distracted by that proposed mosque and all those evil Muslims.  So long as our attention is on anything other than the actual cause of our misery, the real perpetrators stay out of our cross hairs.  That is why they are printing money they don't have on extended unemployment benefits because they know this nation's social order will begin to implode rapidly if they don't.  People who cannot feed their children will do some very shameful things they normally wouldn't do, and what our government fears most is that the general population will finally wake-up to what they did and turn on them in numbers they cannot control or defend against.

 

Just look at the incidence of murder-suicides of entire families being reported all over the nation right now.  People in extreme financial despair are killing themselves and those they loved, but it won't be long before enough of those people get together and decide that if they might die anyway, they might as well get together and die trying to kill those reponsible for what has happened to them.  That next logical progression is fomenting as I write this little rant, and the feds know it.

 

The people who did this to us are not Muslim mosque-builders.  The one person most responsible for this high-treason is a man who is still highly regarded by many Americans who don't realize exactly what he did to them and this nation, and his name is William Jefferson Clinton.  That man planted the malignant seed of free trade agreements in 1993-94 that has now grown into a painful and probably fatal cancer, but he did it with the encouragement and approval of corporation-elected Republican whores doing the bidding of their masters.

 

That is why I have been encouraging as many people as possible to elect small business Tea Party Republicans, and not those like Mit Romney, whose business background is a corporate one.  Large, multi-national corporations have no soul and they have no national loyalty.  The corporate god is money, and by written law, a corporation's sole duty is to provide the highest possible return to their investors no matter who gets hurt, so long as the corporation operates within the law.  That is why the multi-national corporations pushed for the free trade agreements.  Pre-free trade laws included protective tariffs and trade restrictions that made it unprofitable for a manufacturer to produce goods in low-labor nations and export them to America, so the multi-national corporations virtually pooled their election money to buy politicians who would sell free trade to America, and that is what led to the dire economic conditions we have in the United States today.

 

But again, nobody running for office or holding an elected office, is talking about it.  They don't even want you to think about it, which is why they've got Hannity, Limbaugh and all the rest directing your attention to a proposed mosque and the evil Muslims behind it.  I can't believe how many stupid people there are that fell for it.

 

No voter in his/her right mind should want to be represented by a corporate, bought & paid-for politician, but the fact is that most Republicans are corporate whores, and those Republicans with the biggest war chests at election time are almost entirely bought & paid-for, so when election time comes in November, try to remember this warning:  If you elect the same kind of people as you did before, you will get the same results.

 

Carl F. Worden

August 25, 2010