Taking Back Their Country.

Will somebody please tell me what kind of symbolism is being invoked tomorrow when the GOP and it's arrogantly imbecilic cousin the Tea Party reads the Constitution during swearing in ceremonies on Capital Hill?

Is this symbolizing the taking back of their country? Inquiring minds want to know?

I thought they'd all read the document and comitted it to memory before they got to Washington.

Othewise how else would they know that Obama is so wrong in his approach to governing the country, other than looking at him, of course.

If they decide to impeach Obama for not being a citizen...are they going to kick John McCain out of Congress, too? McCain was born in Panama...by the way...

What about the one drop rule...is it being written into the Constitution and made to apply to men, since that is the only way it would apply to Obama?

Just askin'

If the new rulers in Washington are really serious about balancing the budget...

1...Are they willing to give back their own health care...when they repeal mine?

2...Are they willing to cut their own salaries....not just their office budgets....by 50%...to show they mean what they say....After all, Why do congressmen need six figure salaries with government spending so out of whack and 15 million Americans are out of work...Congressmen sit on corporate boards and draw salaries...their wives and mistresses are kept employed by lobbyists seeking their votes...and their kids' education are paid for by these same lobbyists, when the kid can't qualify for a legacy grant, or given a job just to keep his daddy or mommy happy and voting for corporate welfare. Will these legacy brats be prevented from using affirmative action grants that were created to help the poor...the name Quayle comes to mind in this context...

If government workers can be laid off or have their salaries frozen to cut the deficit...why not Congressmen and judges? Presidents should be excluded from this salary cut because his is a 24/7 job, unlike Congress. Proof of this is in the incoming speaker's reported office hours and location after 5pm daily.

3....What about the Defense budget....will it be cut and the money redirected into energy programs designed to benefit all instead of just those wealthy enough to invest? When is Congress going to go after Defense contractors and their supporters who have been stealing from the government for years...the names Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Haliburton and Blackwater come to mind..Are these the upcoming investigations that they are promising?

4....How about ending the wars....is that gonna happen quicker? Why are we fighting over there anyway? What's so wrong with a people determining its own method of governance? Why do we have to constantly rebuild the rest of the world in our own image?

5....What happens to all outdated weapons programs...talking about the ones the military says it no longer needs? Why are certain members of Congress still demanding they be funded?

6....What about other useless pork barrel projects? Or is it time to admit that these projects are nothing more than welfare for the wealthy to keep them happy and voting republican?

7....Farm subsidies to rich farmers....the name Bachmann comes to mind...Why are we paying farmers not to grow food? Why are we paying farmers to produce corn for ethanol when most American cars can't use it yet?

8...What about job projects to put people back to work? Why not a new conservation corps to work on roads, highways, bridges and trains? When is Congress going to get serious about job loss and outsourcing that has literally killed the manufacturing base? Why not make all America corporations come back to America to employ Americans?

9....Congress votes this week to raise the debt ceiling.....Isn't that counter to what all the teabaggers and GOP have campaigned against before coming to DC? How are they going to justify this increase....same way they justified extending the Bush tax cuts....pretending they are Nike...just do it?

10....Are they going to make us better off come 2012, considering all they're offering is a re run of 2004 and 2008 in both policy and personnel?

Rather than reading the Constitution....the GOP should read the psychological definition of crazy out loud until it sinks in.....”doing the same thing over and over...but expecting different results..” That's crazy...

Let the games begin....

Swine Flu Vaccine Ready

Still skeptical about Big Pharma-The 1976 fiasco.....2009 Problem

I will admit upfront, that I'm a total skeptic when it comes to government vaccination programs. Just like all Americans my age, I went through them as a kid. They didn't really hurt me or anything, but then my Mom was in charge. She said take them, I took them. I was only five years old after all.

As I have gotten older, I have come to learn that we don't really know what is in the medicines that we take.

A lot of the medicines on the market are there purely to make a profit for someone, at the expense of you and me.

I don't take the yearly flu vaccinations even though I'm considered high risk.

Having lived through the swine flu epidemic of 1976, I'm not sure if I will ever trust my government or the big drug companies to do the right thing.

Not the way it was set up then...and certainly not the way it is now. Because as bad as the drug companies were back then...

They are a hundred times worse now in their disregard for consumers, viewing them only as cannon fodder for their big profit money making machine.

If you think that is a misstatement or a wrong statement then check out what is really going on in Africa with the drugs that could save so many, but are being withheld by their makers in order to make greater profit.

This is done by simply not making the drugs available because the people cannot afford the price that the drug companies want to charge to support their profit scenario in Africa.

Back in 1976, the big drug companies demanded that the US government take the fall if the swine flu vaccine turned out bad, because they didn't want to get sued. It did. The government took the hit.

The same thing is going on today with health care reform and this so called developing flu vaccine. I have no proof, but my mature gut tells me that we, the people are being screwed again, despite the fact that Obama is in charge. But I will wait and reserve judgment until the reform bill is passed and we get through the flu season.

One of the big players in 1976 and today in 2009 is Roche, the big pharmaceutical company. Roche makes Tamiflu, which you may know, the United States government, as well as other governments, worldwide have stockpiled in recent years to combat Swine and Bird flu.

The US decided to stockpile Tamiflu after Bush elevated Donald Rumsfeld to Secretary of Defense. Rumsfeld made millions off the drug....He has stock in the company that created Tamiflu. Gilead Sciences sold Roche the rights to manufacture the drug.

Our government paid Roche $100 a dose to buy the drug...that works out to $2 billion dollars for useless meds.

Rumsfeld allegedly recused himself from all governmental decisions concerning the stockpiling of the drug. However, with the lies that are now coming to light...

Who knows what Rumsfeld did back in the day...

Rumsfeld and Bush just got the ball rolling. Tamiflu is held up as the treatment for the flu, which really it is not...

Tamiflu is only effective if taken at the first sign of the flu...It is not a cure...or vaccine....If you don't take it at onset....

In other words, if you don't have it in your house..then you're wasting your time.

And there are some nasty side effects to the drug, too...Deaths were reported in Japan to children given the drug, shortly after it came on the market.

If it has to be taken immediately...then wouldn't stockpiling be a waste of time, considering that the government can't get it to you in time to save you...they can't mobilize fast enough...

Think that's wrong...think Katrina....the only thing that's changed since the Katrina debacle is the President...the mechanism for saving American lives...is the same...

Obama has not changed the mechanism, yet. I love Barack Obama...He's like that Nia Long line from the movie The Best Man, while referring to the Terrance Howard character... (pretty M*****), and it's way too early to make any judgments....

But so far, all I'm seeing is same old, same old...lots of charisma and very little change...Just like Bill Clinton....Love em...however...they are both consummate politicians...

And as I've said before...if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck....you can finish...

The difference that I'm seeing between the last administration and the new one..is that one of them is giving us vaseline before telling us to bend over...

Back to this new developing vaccine in time for the coming flu season. As I said, I don't trust it. When they tried this in 1976, more people died from the vaccine then the so called epidemic.

In fact, in 1976, only one person died from the swine flu and he was the first one who contracted it..

He was patient zero, in other words.

It happened at Fort Dix and you can read the story here.

I can't tell you what to do for you and your children when the time comes to face this latest “flu bug.”

It is almost upon us and they are just beginning to test. Officials have already said it's going to take 3 shots.

The shots won't be effective until a couple of weeks after you take the second one...Given the roll out..that will be halfway through the school year..

If that is the case, what is the point of taking the drug...Seems to me your immune system is working effectively already.

What I'm hearing on the news does not sound confident...it sounds panicked...and that scares me..A panicky government is the last thing we need....

Here is how the Center for Disease Control “reflects on the situation."

Let's hope the government learned its lessons from 1976.

Honorable War, An Oxymoron if there ever was one

Details of what happened at Haditha are just beginning to break. The incident happened last November 2005 in Iraq. According to reports, one of our marines died in a bomb attack. In an effort to root out who set off the bomb, the dead marine's brothers in arms went on a killing spree, during which at least 24 civilians were killed, including several women and children and a 77-year-old man, none of them armed.

The incident has been reported upon a couple of times since it happened. There was even a quickly opened probe and just as quickly closed military investigation. But now, the pictures are showing up and other soldiers privy to the alleged cover up, are stepping forward to talk. Congressman, officials at the Pentagon, and the talking heads on television are expressing surprise and outrage over the fact that innocent people may have died and that America's reputation hangs in the balance due to the alleged actions of a few over stressed young people. My question is why? Why is anyone surprised at this latest incident?

It's not the first time soldiers have snapped, think back to Vietnam and the My Lai massacre. There have been others, not as well documented, perhaps. But atrocities in war happen. War itself is an atrocity. Do we Americans think that only the other guy butchers and kills civilians?

Do we Americans think our soldiers are so well trained and well mannered and so honorable that they would never stoop to commit such horrible acts? If that were the case then why do so many Vets come back physically but not mentally able to deal with what they encountered.

Face it people. Our front line in this illegal police action on terrorism is being manned for the most part by the army reserve. Most of whom signed up to get an education and maybe twice a month play war games, not to go war for real, leaving their homes and families to rid Iraq of its dictator and bring Democracy to the Middle East. They were basically sent in under equipped and ill prepared for what they are being forced to face. Is it any wonder that some of them, yes even marines, may have lost it?
They are fighting for their lives first and foremost. Survival is what counts. These young kids wake up everyday wondering if this will be their last sunrise. And we expect them to be honorable in all situations? Honor is for old men and generals who never have to fight the wars they start.

The Pentagon is now investigating, The White House is now looking into the matter. Congress has found its voice and is calling for justice. Many soldiers will probably be court martialed for their actions. They will be made scape goats and this latest chapter on this immoral war will be closed. What should actually happen, won't, meaning Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and every other congressional SOB who green lighted this illegal war should be impeached and sent to that maximum security hell hole out west to live out their days watching videos of what they allowed to happen on their watch.

This was never an honorable situation, just more evidence that the American people are allowing themselves to be led by dishonorable men.