Stealth Budget For Stealth Bailout

What stealth is behind the flag?

The massive military build up and military drills in South America give new meaning to "drill for oil" and "drill baby drill".

Stealthy numbers also seem to be in the growing stealth budget somewhere, hidden from public eyes.

A secret amount in the hundreds of billions of dollars of the taxpayer money is classified each year.

Thus, we never really know what the actual deficit is, but never mind, the amount they tell us about is shocking enough.

The just before Christmas spending bill is out:

The Senate will soon follow the House in passing a $636.3 billion Fiscal Year 2010 defense appropriations bill, the government's largest spending bill. The legislation contains 1,720 earmarks worth $4.2 billion, 17 percent less in number and 14 percent less in value from last year (remember that this is only disclosed earmarks: Major additions such as the $2.5 billion for 10 more C-17 Globemaster cargo planes are not included). The four top Congressional appropriators are responsible for 15 percent of the take: Senate Defense Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) sponsored 37 earmarks worth $198.2 million, and Ranking Member Thad Cochran 45 worth $167 million. Over in the House, Defense Appropriations Chairman John Murtha (D-PA) sponsored 23 earmarks worth $76.5 million, while Ranking Member C.W. Bill Young (R-FL) got behind 36 worth $83.7 million.

(Taxpayers For Common Sense, emphasis added). We spend more on war machines and war each year, in the non-stealth budget, than all the rest of the world combined.

If we knew the amount they classify (Jekyl & Hyde) then spend on war machines and war each year, in the stealth budget, it would be more than all the rest of the world combined.

They are still hung up on that old domino theory where they have to destroy the economy in order to save it?

Oilah Akbar! Oilah Akbar! - 2

The AP is reporting that Iran seized Oil Well # 4 which the Iraqis claim as theirs.

It is a border dispute in theory, but the reality is that it is an addiction dispute.

Drug dealers are very territorial and drug users are very dangerous.

Oil addiction and Copenhagen are linked in the sense that oil addiction is the disaster that is causing the impending climate disaster governments of the world seem too weak to prevent.

Oilah Akbar is the real religion behind all this madness.

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

Dorgan Attempts To Reform Health Care

Senator Dorgan presented a bi-partisan amendment to the health care bill to truly reform health care.

It was a bi-partisan amendment with co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle:

Dorgan and Snowe introduced bipartisan legislation that had over 30 Senate co-sponsors in the last session of Congress, including President Obama and Senator John McCain.

(Dorgan Amendment). One segment of health care is prescription drugs, which was the focus of Senator Dorgan's Amendment:

... American consumers are charged the highest prices in the world for the same medicines that are available in other major, industrialized nations at a fraction of the cost. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the Dorgan–Snowe legislation will save U.S. consumers more than $50 billion over the next decade.

The legislation will allow American consumers, pharmacies and drug wholesalers to import FDA–approved prescription drugs at the substantially lower prices available on the world market.

(FAQ About Amendment, emphasis added). Americans are treated unfairly by Big Pharma. A post yesterday shows the vote, which reveals who is serious about health care reform and who is not.

Those who voted against this amendment, including prominent democrats, are serious about getting money from Big Pharma for their election, but not about health care reform. Their vote exposes them.

Governor Dean is correct that the Senate Version of the health care legislation does not pass the smell test and should be rejected in favor of the House Bill.

Big Pharma Chastens Men Into Boyz

Senator Dorgan had an idea any reform minded Senator would embrace.

His Amendment to the status quo, where Americans pay many times more for pharmaceuticals than any other nation in the civilized world, would have ended the rape and plunder of needy Americans by Big Pharma.

It would have allowed us to purchase prescription drugs for a fair price.

The three boyz pictured in the photo voted against Dorgan's Amendment, as did a number of phonies who say they are for health care reform:

Akaka (D-HI), Baucus (D-MT), Bayh (D-IN),
Burris (D-IL), Cantwell (D-WA), Cardin (D-MD),
Carper (D-DE), Casey (D-PA), Dodd (D-CT),
Durbin (D-IL), Gillibrand (D-NY), Hagan (D-NC),
Inouye (D-HI), Kaufman (D-DE), Kerry (D-MA),
Kirk (D-MA), Landrieu (D-LA), Lautenberg (D-NJ),
Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (ID-CT), Menendez (D-NJ),
Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Reed (D-RI),
Reid (D-NV), Rockefeller (D-WV), Schumer (D-NY),
Tester (D-MT), Udall (D-CO), Warner (D-VA),
Whitehouse (D-RI)

(vote on Dorgan Amdt. No. 2793). Meanwhile several republicans, who a progressive would not have expected to vote for the amendment, voted to be fair to Americans:

Alexander (R-TN), Bond (R-MO), Coburn (R-OK),
Collins (R-ME), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX),
Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Graham (R-SC),
Grassley (R-IA), Hutchison (R-TX), Johanns (R-NE),
LeMieux (R-FL), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY),
Murkowski (R-AK), Risch (R-ID), Sessions (R-AL),
Shelby (R-AL), Snowe (R-ME), Thune (R-SD),
Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS)

(ibid). Can you say WTF? This is one for Ed Shultz's psycho talk, or perhaps a new segment of his show called "Psycho Vote".

Dorgan's Amendment failed and will not be in the "bill to bail out mini-AIG", which the phonies call "health care reform".

Thanks to all the Senators who care about needy Americans!

George W. Oilwell On Health Care 1984

Baghdad Bob is such a wild and crazy guy who epitomizes newspeak, the language of propagandistic journalism now fashionable in the United States' main stream media, the virtual children of political speak (a.k.a. doublespeak), made famous in 1984 if you know what I mean.

This national speech impairment has not gone unnoticed by the scientific community.

One professor calls this mode of communication "doublespeak", and has written a book "Why No One Knows What Anyone Is Saying Anymore". He points out:

With doublespeak, banks don't have "bad loans" or "bad debts"; they have "nonperforming assets" or "nonperforming credits" which are "rolled over" or "rescheduled." Corporations never lose money; they just experience "negative cash flow," "deficit enhancement," "net profit revenue deficiencies," or "negative contributions to profits."

(William Lutz, Rutgers University). What is forgotten is that this propaganda is not harmless but is toxic, and those who use it are doomed to eventually become deceived by it.

What they call "health care reform" has morphed into an under the table bailout of the predatory Insurance Institutions, one of the tentacles sucking the life out of the middle class and poor.

Those bankster bailouts right out in the open, done even when they were "on message", became unfashionable to "doublespeakers", once they felt the outrage of the public.

So the bailouts are now done surreptitiously through the time worn practices of deceit.

The U.S. news media, as usual, are unaware of the catastrophic damage this Saran Wrap phoniness is doing to the image of The United States of America in the eyes of The United States of Europe, as well as other nations in the world, who are far more sophisticated in health care matters.

They even know what the word "care" means.

Ye Olde Drone Hackers Ride Again

So the cavemen really are sophisticated enough to hack into our best and brightest?

They really did hack into military drone aircraft station KBOM to see our view of things? That is what the journalists are reporting:

"Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.

Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes' systems."

(Wall Street Journal). Just for kicks lets remember that there are lots of posts which point out that security is the word the military thinkers use to scare the congress into trillions of dollars spent on useless wars and infrastructure improvement in foreign nations that many folks can't find on a map.

For forty years the military has been hackable. If you want a book that documented the current reality 40 years ago, read The Cuckoo's Egg, by Cliff Stoll. He had a difficult time convincing the military that it was being hacked as if it was an open book:

The meeting was top secret, so I couldn't listen—someone fetched me when my turn came. In a small room, lit only by the viewgraph machine, there were around thirty people, most of them in uniforms. Generals and admirals, like you see in the movies.

Well, I talked for half an hour, describing how the hacker was breaking into military computers and skipping through our networks.
...
I know as little about the military world as the next person. "I guess I'm impressed, though I'm not sure why," I said. "You ought to be," Bob said. "These are all flag officers. General John Paul Hyde works at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And that guy in the front row -- he's a big shot from the FBI. It's a good thing he heard you."

(ibid, The Cuckoo's Egg, p. 200). This took place 40 years ago when a long hair from Berkeley informed the military they were being had, so they gave the long haired hippy astronomer the National Medal of Honor.

But they did not fix the system, because when someone hacks the system they can go to congress yelling "security security" to scare congress into giving them more money not to fix it.

A related post is here.

Jobs Are On The Way Yesterday

The House passed what it calls a jobs bill last night 217-212.

That adds to the largest public works legislation in history, which promised jobs until 2009.

We really do not know where that money went that was supposed to be spent here in the U.S. to help the citizens of America, but it looks like it went to military expenditures for soldiers, weapons, and mercenaries (a.k.a. hired killers) doing endless wars in dead end corners of the world.

Or perhaps this new money will go toward increasing jobs in the new military oil complex venture into lands south of the Texas border.

Canadian CBC Covers 9/11 Commission

Bob McKeown, the journalist in the photo, has a record few Canadian journalists can match – two Emmys, three Geminis, and a Grey Cup.

Add to that a cast of journalists of the competent kind, then all of a sudden we have a news team worthy of consideration whose star, McKeown, recently headed up a documentary "The Unofficial Story" about 9/11 where he presents a little bit of both sides of the issue.

That is, he gives the official conspiracy theorists, such as some of the 9/11 Commissioners, as well as the unofficial conspiracy theorists, such as Architect Richard Gage, a little bit of a chance to present their views.

On main stream media in Canada no less, which is a bit different from the United States main stream media, who have not been allowed to do that so far.

Perhaps it is because one third of Canadians think criminal, rogue elements within the Bush II regime were somehow involved, while even more than that do not believe the 9/11 Commission Report was completely valid.

Most of the 9/11 Commissioners no longer believe their own accuracy any more either, now that new evidence and facts have developed.

But do not jump to false conclusions, typically drawn by "9/11 debunkers", as to what sceptics really want.

The now unofficial commissioner John Farmer, who wrote the original official story, only wants a new investigation, a new story.

The basic premises, upon which these now unofficial story tellers want a new commission, are:

Does Farmer have cooperation and agreement from other members of the Commission? Yes. Did they say Bush ordered 9/11? No. Do they say that the 9/11 Commission was lied to by the FBI, CIA, Whitehouse and NORAD? Yes. Is there full documentary proof of this? Yes.

(Salem News). We have to remember that even if "government officials" were involved they were criminal rogue elements, not valid government officials doing official government work.

The person who wrote the 9/11 Commission Report, John Farmer, has recently written a book repudiating the 9/11 Commission Report:

In John Farmer’s book: “The Ground Truth: The Story Behind America’s Defense on 9/11″, the author builds the inescapably convincing case that the official version ... is almost entirely untrue ...

(ibid, Salem News). This is serious as a heart attack, and it is time that the "free press" of the United States faces up to its failure to have the courage to carry this new development to its logical conclusion.

It is essential to remember that no one in this story thinks that 9/11 was an official government event, it was at worst a smaller number of criminal, rogue elements working for the government, who had the appearance of officialdom which they used to hoodwink others in the government surreptitiously.

If the U.S. press was as powerful in investigative journalism as the Canadian CBC is, and was not owned by the military oil complex, we could have an open, objective, and fair discussion in main stream media of both sides of the issue here in this country.

"Kill Senate Health Care Bill"

After the latest Joe Lieberman escapades leading to Senate Leadership capitulation, Howard Dean said on last night's Keith Olbermann show Countdown, that the Senate bill on Health Care should be put out of its misery.

On radio he said:

"This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate," Dean said. "Honestly the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill, go back to the House, start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill."

(Huffington Post). Is it not pathetic for a nation that exclaims peace to spend more on military than all the rest of the nations combined?

To spend less on health care than any other industrialized European nation?

A spending orgasm is just fine if it is spent on military or filthy rich banksters, but not fine if it goes to the middle class and poor?

No wonder we are falling from first place in significant areas of economics.

Military To "Drill" For Oil In S. America?

It was little noticed in U.S. media that the military oil complex is "shopping for oil" south of the mainland in Central and South America:

The United States is massively building up its potential for nuclear and non-nuclear strikes in Latin America and the Caribbean by acquiring unprecedented freedom of action in seven new military, naval and air bases in Colombia.
...

And, this being US foreign policy, a tell-tale trail of oil is evident. Brazil had already expressed its unhappiness at the presence of US naval vessels in its massive new offshore oilfields off Rio de Janeiro, destined soon to make Brazil a giant oil producer eligible for membership in Opec.
...

The fact that the US gets half its oil from Latin America was one of the reasons the US Fourth Fleet was re-established in the region's waters in 2008. The fleet's vessels can include Polaris nuclear-armed submarines – a deployment seen by some experts as a violation of the 1967 Tlatelolco Treaty, which bans nuclear weapons from the continent.

(Independent, emphasis added). One wonders if this is a phenomenon of the magic Christmas number 30 we recently discussed.

Under that military doctrine so long as 30 or less are likely to be killed in Afghanistan, the local commanders can do what they want there.

Is this doctrine applicable to say 30 nuclear submarines, 30 warships, 30 attack helicopters, 30 air to ground missiles, 30 divisions of marines, or 30 nuclear warheads?

There must be some reason Obama does not talk about this, is it because he does not know or because he is in denial about our oil addiction?

If he knew he would probably be emphasizing the job increase taking place in an incredible job surge in certain sectors.

The United States of Europe - 2

We discussed The United States of Europe, probably more commonly known as the EU or European Union, a while back.

One of the 27 nations in The United States of Europe, singly, without the help of its 26 other sister states in that union, is the largest exporter in the world:

Germany has been the world’s largest exporter of goods since 2003 and its companies have exported just under $1000bn worth of products, almost as much as the UK, France and the Netherlands combined. Indeed, exports generate some 40% of German GDP.

(Management Today). The economic propaganda at home in the United States of America is a fable of two economies, Wall Street vs. Main Street.

That is not a true picture in the ultimate sense, because my figures indicate that China has taken over second place after Germany, with the United States of America dropping to third for the first time ever.

The major difference among these nations is that the United States of America has been fighting wars for the past 30 years (which believe it or not folks, takes money from the economy then blows it up somewhere in the foreign world, takes money from the middle class and poor, giving it to strange countries lots of folks can't even find on a map) while the other nations have not been warring.

The toll these U.S. wars take is not just millions of homes lost, jobs lost, lives lost because health care is too expensive to afford, savings lost, and hope of the American dream lost.

The actual toll is damage to the nation as a whole, damage to economic institutions, and damage to the future of the nation.

The intellectual warmongers who have had the strongest influence on the nation for three decades, and counting, are doubling down in the face of this reality.

The imperialistic militarism that sought the oil of Iraq is now seeking the oil of the Americas:

The United States is massively building up its potential for nuclear and non-nuclear strikes in Latin America and the Caribbean by acquiring unprecedented freedom of action in seven new military, naval and air bases in Colombia. The development – and the reaction of Latin American leaders to it – is further exacerbating America's already fractured relationship with much of the continent ... And, this being US foreign policy, a tell-tale trail of oil is evident.

(Independent). The political reality in the United States of America is that the military oil complex governs here.

As long as that is the reality behind the scenes, there will be economic problems for the middle class and poor.

UPDATE: Evidently China has now overtaken Germany as the #1 exporter.

 The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

The Judas Number - 30 - Pieces of Silver

How about a Christmas story?

Remember the story of Jesus?

I mean the one where one of his own disciples, Judas Iscariot, sold him out to his enemies for 30 pieces of silver?

The civilians of Afghanistan can relate to the number 30, because it is trivial for 30 of them to be killed by Americans, who are there to teach them to be civil, modern, and democratic.

Yep, if any thing like serious killing is going to go on (like killing more than 30 Afghanis at a time) there must be permission given by the Secretary of State as a matter of law.

See, we are a nation of laws, which makes us exceptional, hence American exceptionalism.

The Afghanis don't know how lucky they are to have a great progressive American Commander in Chief pulling for them do they?

He is sending the Judas number 30 more thousand of those who kill 30 at a time, praise General Judas.

Well you know that law stuff always has loopholes, so have you noticed that when a bunch of Afghanis are killed these days there are always about 30 Afghani civilians killed?

You haven't?

Now that is some seriously exact killing folks, legal, exceptional, and fully Judas. All the military needs to do is report "30" civilians for it to be defined as trivial, exact killing.

But that being said, can you believe that some ingrates think the 30 number is being fudged? Yes it is true:

On Monday, the anonymous blogger Security Crank noticed something interesting: all the U.S. and NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan seemingly kill exactly 30 people every time. How can that be?

(Air America). How unpatriotic can some people get? Jesus would not be happy with them, pass the ammo, 30 boxes please, and learn what to notice, and what not to notice.

That security crank who is 30 challenged even said:

But look, hopping onto Google News and typing “30 Taliban” or “30 suspected militants” brings up literally dozens of stories each year, stretching back at least to 2005. Indeed, thirty seems to be the magic number when it comes to arresting or killing off Taliban and other militant fighters in Afghanistan.

(Security Crank). As if that arithmetic of insubordination could not be topped, some one down in sweet home Alabama noticed the same thing:

Last August my piece Around the Hindu Kush, 30 is a Magic Number quoted 16 media items about different incidents in Afghanistan between February 2006 and August 2008. Each of those incidents involved "30 militants", "30 insurgents" or "30 enemies".

Since then the number 30 has not lost its magic. Here is an update with 18 incidents since August last year all of which involve the magic number:

(Moon of Alabama). That is Judas Priest ghastly to notice things like that with an unfaithful questioning mind. Doubt is of the devil!

Don't these dissidents know it is not a matter of magic, it is a matter of biblical proportions, as our high priest in chief explained to the French Fry dude?

Yes, our Judas Priest in Chief has specified a democratic number of 30 as the reason these things happen this way.

This biblical 30 is done so our wars are always just, and those we are fighting are always evil. Isn't that special? Isn't that magic!

It is a biblical proportion that should be told during Christmas Time, the season of heavenly peace we are bringing to lucky nations everywhere.

Notice the holy official foundation for this principle of Judas 30 law:

We don't know much about how it works, but in 2007, Marc Garlasco, the Pentagon's former chief of high-value targeting, offered a glimpse when he told Salon magazine that in 2003, "the magic number was 30." That meant that if an attack was anticipated to kill more than 30 civilians, it needed the explicit approval of then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld or President George W. Bush. If the expected civilian death toll was less than 30, the strike could be OKd by the legal and military commanders on the ground.

(LA Times). Hey detractors, you do know the meaning of "30 is ok" don't you? It means don't bother us with details of minor imperfection. Grace and forgiveness are the values of disciples of Christ doncha know?

This is sophisticated foreign policy based upon the King James Bible, which was good enough for Jesus, so it is also good enough for all our saintly body counters.