The three-headed dog that ate America or (Buy a Chrysler and help support child sex slavery)?

Cerberus (ˈsɜːbərəs)
— n
1. Greek myth a dog, usually represented as having three heads, that guarded the entrance to Hades
2. a sop to Cerberus a bribe or something given to propitiate a potential source of danger or problems
3. a private investment firm headquarted at 299 Park Avenue, New York City.

Most of us have heard of this three headed dog guarding the gates of hell before. He obviously isn't there to keep souls from entering through the gates. He is there of course to keep them from escaping. Some may have even heard the phrase of "giving a sop to Cerberus" before; meaning, to bribe. What a great symbol and name for an investment company, don't ya think? Well, somebody did.

Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. was founded in 1992 by Steve Feinberg, has John W. Snow (aka-73rd U.S. Secretary of the Treasury) as chairman and uses Dan (I can't spell potato) Quayle (aka- 44th VP of U.S.) as it's mouth piece. According to BusinessWeek, in 2005 Cerberus controlled companies earning over $30 billion in annual sales, making it bigger than Coke, McDonalds and Cisco with a larger payroll than Exxon.

John W. Snow is a person of great interest here. Snow became CEO of CSX Transportation in 1985 which just posted (Oct 12, 2010) record 3rd quarter earnings of $414 million. I'm sure Snow could have nothing to do with this record though, because in December of 2002 he sold CSX to another private equity firm, the Carlyle Group for $300 million. In hindsight, the Carlyle Group made a pretty decent bit of change on that one. It probably didn't hurt that former president George H. W. Bush was a Senior Advisor for Carlyle, former Secretary of the State- James Baker III  was a Senior Counselor for Carlyle, former British Prime Minister- John Major was a Chairman for Carlyle, and that former secretary of the defense- Frank Carlucci was Chairman and Chairman Emeritus at Carlyle at the time of the sale. So less than a month after selling his company to the president's dad's company, John W. Snow resigned as chairman at CSX so that the president could make him our new Secretary of the Treasury in January of 2003. Fishy? Nah, just business as usual, right?

I'm sure that John W. Snow did some wonderful things as Secretary of Treasury from 2003 to 2006 but that is not really the point of my story. I'm more interested in what he did after his position there. Snow resigned as Treasury Secretary on July 3, 2006 and was replaced by Henry Paulson, ex-CEO of another private equity firm- Goldman Sachs. Snow wasn't out of work for long. On October 19, 2006 Snow became chairman of Cerberus.

In April of 2006 Cerberus purchased majority shares of General Motors Acceptance Corp (GMAC) for $14 billion. Oh, the irony. Yes, the same GMAC you may have heard of recently due to their questionable mortgage foreclosure practices. The same GMAC that is being investigated for mortgage fraud. That's right, the mortgage holder, not the borrower is being investigated. What an automotive company needs its own bank for & what that bank is doing messing with people's mortgages is beyond my simple perspective on things I guess. Yes, the same GMAC that provided financing to GM auto dealers and customers. The same GMAC that was part of GM that was bailed out by Bush & Paulson in 2008. The same GMAC that has recently changed it's name to Ally Financial and is now majority owned by the U.S. Government. Confusing isn't it? It's meant to be.

With John Snow as Chairman, Cerberus returned the control of Chrysler to American soil by purchasing 80% of DaimlerChrysler in May of 2007. God bless Amerika. Did anyone know that one private equity firm owned the majority of the both American icons of industry at the time they were bailed out, against our will by us, we the people? As was GM, Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy and rescued by their savior, the 3-headed dog keeping us all trapped in hell, Cerberus.

Why would they purchase these collapsing giants you might ask? Well it seems it worked out pretty well for them. GM & Chrysler & therefore, actually Cerberus got handed quite a bit of tax payer money at the end of 2008 and early 2009 to puff these giants back up. And we all thought we were bailing out the auto industry. It turns out, it was just another bank bailout. Man we are suckers. Speaking of which, I love how Obama gets blamed for the auto industry bailout, I am pretty sure Bush & Cheney were still desecrating the White House in December of 2008 when it all actually started.

Cerberus has since gone on to purchase another icon of American industry, DynCorp in April of 2010. No?  Trust me they are an icon of one of Americas greatest industries- raping, killing and blowing shit up. Don't ring any bells, huh? Remember the American mercenaries raided by the 48th Military Police Detachment in Bosnia back in 1999 and charged with using 12-15 year olds as sex slaves? Yes, working for us, the tax payers. DynCorp gets 96% of its business from us. DynCorp, Halliburton's KBR & many others have a powerful lobby and have fought hard to allow us to keep up the human trafficking and child-sex slavery. Yes us. We pay for it, we just don't know it evidently. Heck, they just made a movie about it called The Whistleblower. It's not surprising if you haven't heard of them though.

“We try to hide religiously...If anyone at Cerberus has his picture in the paper and a picture of his apartment, we will do more than fire that person. We will kill him. The jail sentence will be worth it.” -Steve Feinberg

So what are we to make of all this? Just more business as usual, right? Boys will be boys. Corporate & government corruption is nothing new, right? Seriously, it is disgusting what We The People pay for every day with our tax dollars. It is just as disgusting to bury our heads in the sand like the three monkeys that can hear, see and speak no evil while the three headed dog laughs like a hyena and steals our souls. But, in reality what can we do? Aren't we just slaves too; Forced to find a way to keep up our payments to the likes of GMAC or they will rip away our homes? I don't know. But, I think we first need to unplug our ears, open our eyes and open our mouths if we are ever to escape. Maybe then we can find Orpheus.

It's just not fair!

It's just not fair! We should not let those Socialists in DC raise the taxes on those poor individuals making $200,000.00 a year or more or those poor couples making only $250,000 dollars a year or more back to what their rate was before Geoge W. Bush came to power. Don't you remember how they suffered under Slick Willy? If we let Obama have his way he will lock in the current tax rate that George W. Bush set for everyone except those poor people/couples making $200/250k or more each year. It just isn't fair. How will they be able to pay for their children's nannys and private schools? How will they survive? I understand in these trying times we all must make sacrifices but, these people have earned the right to be above all that haven't they? I think once you inherit or earn a certain amount of money, you have proven yourself enough and shouldn't have to engage in the sacrifices like the rest of the masses. God has obviously smiled upon them for a reason and we should respect that.

Plus if the taxes on the wealthiest 2% are raised from 35% as they are now to 39.6% as Obama wants to do the government would be stealing $700 billion dollars from them that they have been using to create jobs. Don't you remember how all those jobs were created after Bush cut their tax rates? ...um..Well, I'll find a source for that later. On the other hand if our government keeps handing them back that $700 billion of their hard-earned money they can keep creating jobs for poor folk like they have been. Again, I'll back up this claim with a source later, no time to find one right now. I'm sure though we all remember how well the trickle down thing worked during the Reagan & Bush Sr. years. You see the more we let the richest people keep more of their hard-earned & fully deserved money, the more of that money they use to create jobs for regular working Americans. That's why we have so many jobs staying here in America when it would be much cheaper to employ people in India or Bangledesh or Guatemala or Vietnam, etc... Also they are very philanthropic people and like to give their money away to poor people. They just don't want the government to take the credit and do it for them. This is completely understandable, it is their money. Am I the only one that gets this? Geez!

As a matter of fact, I think it would be even better if we just had a flat tax rate for everyone. It is so unfair that just because someone has more money that they should have to pay more in taxes. Fair is fair. It is a black & white issue like all issues. Their is no grey or in between. I mean think about it: why should a single guy making $200,000/yr have to pay nearly 40% (as Obama wants to do) of his money to the government while a guy making only $8,000/yr gets away with only paying 10%? Why in the heck should the first guy only get to take home $120,000 while the the other guy gets away with taking home $7,200? As a matter a fact the guy making $8000/yr will probably not have to pay anything at all after accounting for exemptions. It's ridiculous and just not fair! If we had a flat tax of say, 20% everything would be fair. The guy making $200k keeps $160,000 while the guy making $8k keeps $6,400. That's fair!

Better yet! Why don't we just get rid of taxes all together? The government's all screwed up and just wastes our money on lazy people that don't wanna work anyway! Besides, what do we need taxes for when we have the Federal Reserve bank? If the government needs money they can just print some more, right? Of course, those commie, socialist, liberal, terrorists are gonna say, "this will devaluate the dollar" and "it will drive up prices." I say, "so what?" Last time I checked a dollar was worth a dollar and if something costs too much for someone they should just learn to budget better. "Survival of the fittest" as those elitist, academia, evolutionary nuts like to say. I say, "give me liberty or give me death!" If God wanted everyone to be born equal he would have made us all clones, born at the same time, in the same place, to the same parents, with the same bank account, with the same connections and same opportunities!

“There’s class warfare, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” -Warren Buffett

ATTACK ON CORREA!!!

Correa, 47, speaking from the balcony of the Carondelet palace after his rescue, told hundreds of cheering backers that Thursday "was the saddest day of my life." He said 27 of his special forces bodyguards had been injured. Correa thanked the supporters who had converged on the hospital "ready to die to defend democracy." His loyalists had hurled stones at police who repelled them with tear gas. He said the uprising was not just a pay dispute. "There were lots of infiltrators, dressed as civilians, and we know where they were from," the U.S.-trained leftist economist shouted.

Both Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia alleged in Buenos Aires on Friday that the United States was somehow behind the police rebellion.

Like his leftist ally Chavez, Correa has drastically cut royalties to multinational oil companies in favor of his people, discouraging direct foreign investment while courting such nations as Iran and Russia.



I'm sure those multinational oil companies & the governments they represent had nothing to do with any of this. We would never support such a thing unless you count the Guatemalan coups of 54, 61 & 63 or the September 11th attacks in Chile, 1973 or the 1953 coup in Iran or in Panama in 1981 & 1989 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama or Haiti in 59, 71, 86, 90, 93 & 2010? or Bolivia in 68, 71, & 2008 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26724256/ or Venezuala in 2002 & 2006 . Not to mention the "Bay of Pigs" invasion of Cuba in 1961 or O.I.L. (Operation Iraqi Liberation) in 2003. The list of things our corporatocracy would never do goes on & on.

9/11 and a Smoking Gun.

GMA, General Mahmoud Ahmad (aka, Mahmud Ahmed, Mahmood Ahmed), head of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) from 1999-Oct. 7, 2001.

What if the man that funded the 9/11 attacks was eating breakfast in Washington DC on the morning of September 11, 2001 with the chairmen of the House & Senate Intelligence Committees, Democratic Senator Bob Graham from Florida and Republican Representative Porter Goss from Florida? Does that directly connect members of our government to the attacks or is this just another one of those unfathomable coincidences?

Let's go back in time for a moment. I am sure we all remember Mohammed Atta (MMA), the ringleader of the 9/11 attacks. Here is part of a transcript posted on the Washington Post website of the 9/30/01 episode of ABC's "This Week" hosted by Sam Donaldson:

"As to September 11, federal authorities have now told ABC News they've tracked more than $100,000 from banks in Pakistan to two banks in Florida to accounts held by suspected hijack ringleader Mohammed Atta. As well this morning TIME magazine is reporting that some of that money came in the days just before the attack and can be traced directly to people connected to Osama Bin Laden. It's all part of what has been a successful FBI effort so far to close in on the hijackers' high command, the money men, the planners, and the mastermind."

Here is an excerpt from the TIME report referred to as published on 10/08/01:

"Sources have told TIME that in the ten days prior to Sept. 11, Atta received at least two wire transfers from a man investigators have linked with bin Laden."1

The connections are convoluted by intention. The plotters covered their tracks well.

So ABC, the Washington Post and Time magazine (hardly fringe news sources) are all reporting that the FBI (or other federal authorities) are investigating who sent MMA this money under the assumption that it will lead to the ultimate planners of the attack. Another assumption being made is that this ultimate planner is Osama bin Laden (OBL).

According to this CNN report from 10/08/01 that man is Ahmed Umar Syed Shiekh (ASS):
"Freed with Ahzar was Ahmed Umar Syed Shiekh, whom authorities say used a pseudonym to wire $100,000 to suspected hijacker Mohammed Atta, who then distributed the money in the United States." 2

Remember that name. It will be written many ways (e.g., Ahmad Umar Shiekh, Omar Saeed Shiekh, Umar Shiekh), but they all refer to the same man. For simplicity, I just call him ASS. The CNN article is referring to India releasing ASS, along with Ahzer and another bad-guy, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar into Afghanistan in exchange for the hijacked passengers of Indian Airlines flight 814 on Dec. 31, 1999.

Here's another interesting thing in the CNN article:

"Indian authorities have also said that 1999 hijacking was done with the help of Pakistan's ISI or Intelligence Service." 2
The idea that Pakistan would not be acting in the best interests of India is not a big shocker, nor is the idea that India would try to make Pakistan look bad. India and Pakistan have been feuding since 1947 and are still at war with each other over the territory of the Kashmir mountains. The idea that the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) would help with the terrorist act of hijacking an airplane is of interest though. To paraphrase George W. Bush, "you are either with us or against us" and "those that harbor terrorists will be treated the same as the terrorists." Since the government of Pakistan is allied with the United States this would be something neither side would want loudly reported.

To put this in some context, here's a brief history of notable, recent geo-political events regarding Pakistan and the ISI:

It is well established that Pakistan was a major ally of the U.S. in the 80's during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The CIA would funnel money and arms to the ISI (Pakistan's CIA), the ISI would funnel this material to OBL and other mujaheddin fighters who would operate and train out of Pakistan. They would then cross over into Afghanistan to fight the Soviets to the great pleasure of our CIA.

Things went south in the 90's. After the Soviet defeat, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Pakistan over their development of nuclear weapons. Some business relations went on as usual though. Pakistan holds a very strategic position for countries or corporations wanting access to the oil and natural gas fields of the newly liberated former Soviet Republics of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, & Uzbekistan. If a Western power wanted to access these fields they would need to pipe these resources to a port where these things could be shipped back home. If you look at a globe there are only a few ways to pipe resources in this region to a port.

Piping through Russia, Iran or China would mean allowing them to control the flow of the oil and gas through their territory. The Iran & China option aren't even political realities. Russia would allow a pipeline but it would be very expensive and Russia would want it's share of the profit. None of these options would be very appealing to a Western company looking to make a profit. The only other way to get resources from this region would be to pipe them through Afghanistan & Pakistan to a port along the Pakistani or Indian coast of the Indian Ocean. But this all goes towards the motives for the events of 9/11. I'll leave that for another time and for now just say Pakistan is strategically important to the interests of the U.S.

Now back to the Pakistani history. In May of 1998 India, then Pakistan held live nuclear tests. The last thing the U.S. would want is a nuclear-armed, fundamentalist Islamic regime controlling the flow of our oil. In September of 1999, lieutenant-general Ziauddin Butt, director of the ISI held detailed meetings with the CIA and warned them about the 'fundamentalist' influence in the military. He had also warned about the growing threat of 'Talibanisation' in Pakistan." On October 12, 1999 General Pervez Musharraf launched a coup and ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He took control of Pakistan and pronounced himself chief executive. One of the key Generals in this overthrow was General Mahmoud Ahmad (GMA).3

According to this excellent TIME article GMA tipped off an OBL associate named, Ahmed al-Khadir who was wanted for the bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad in 1995, and helped him escape into Afghanistan. 4

"Put bluntly, the Pakistani spy agency, known as the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had betrayed the Egyptians." 4

GMA was a known supporter of the Taliban.

"When the President (Musharraf) sent him (GMA) down to Kandahar last Sept. 17 to persuade Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to hand over bin Laden, the spymaster instead secretly told Omar to resist, an ex-Taliban official told Time."4

GMA arrived in Washington DC on September 4, 2001 for a week of meetings with his counterparts in the CIA. GMA was now the director of the ISI.

According to this NY Times article published September 13, 2001: "WASHINGTON, Sept. 12...The director of the Pakistani Interservices Intelligence, Gen. Mahmoud Ahmad, who happened to be here on a regular visit of consultations, was called into the State Department today to meet with Deputy Secretary Richard L. Armitage."5

The NY Times doesn't make a big deal out of it but they do verify that GMA just "happened to be here" in DC on 9/12/01. Are they raising an eyebrow at us? When do you suppose he arrived in Washington DC? The article declines to say but the only air traffic flying the first few days after the attacks were taking OBL's family and Suadi royals out of the country.6 This means he had to have already been in DC before the attacks occurred.

But no need to speculate, this is confirmed in an interview with Porter Goss himself in this Washington Post article: "On the morning of Sept. 11, Goss and Graham were having breakfast with a Pakistani general named Mahmud Ahmed -- the soon-to-be-sacked head of Pakistan's intelligence service. Ahmed ran a spy agency notoriously close to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban."7

So now we know that ASS is sending the money to MMA. But what does this have to do with GMA eating breakfast with the chairmen of the House & Senate Intelligence Committees on the morning of September 11, 2001?

Here's an interesting clue. According to this NY Times article published March 19, 2002: "The government may have other reasons not to give up Mr. Sheikh (ASS), including reports that he has links to Pakistan's main intelligence agency."8

This article is referring to the fact that the Pakistani government had arrested ASS as "Ahmed Omar Sheikh, the main suspect in the killing of the American journalist Daniel Pearl" and their reluctance to release him to United States custody.8 That's right, the ASS that wired the money to MMA is the same man that supposedly beheaded the Wall Street Journal's Daniel Pearl. I know this begs the question, "What exactly was Daniel Pearl investigating at the time of his capture?"

There is also this report for the British news agency, Guardian by Labour Party politician Michael Meacher: "This is all the more remarkable when this is the same Omar Sheikh who, at the behest of General Mahmood Ahmed, head of the ISI, wired $100,000 to Mohammed Atta, the leading 9/11 hijacker, before the New York attacks, as confirmed by Dennis Lormel, director of FBI's financial crimes unit."9

So now we have a British politician claiming that an FBI director has verified that ASS sent the money to MMA on orders from GMA. Understandibly, this story hasn't made a big splash in the Western media. The only other place you will find this story is in the Pakistani newspaper, Dawn:

"NEW DELHI, Oct 8: Director General of Pakistan's Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Mahmud Ahmed has been replaced after the FBI investigators established credible links between him and Umar Sheikh, one of the three militants released in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999.

The FBI team, which had sought adequate inputs about various terrorists including Sheikh from the intelligence agencies, was working on the linkages between Sheikh and former ISI chief Gen Mahmud which are believed to have been substantiated, reports PTI website.

Informed sources said there were enough indications with the US intelligence agencies that it was at Gen Mahmud's instruction that Sheikh had transferred 100,000 US dollars into the account of Mohammed Atta, one of the lead terrorists in strikes at the World Trade Centre on Sept 11, it adds." 10

If that's not credible enough, there is also this report from Seymour Hersch in the New Yorker: "A senior military officer told me that because of the visas and other documentation needed to infiltrate team members into the United States a major foreign intelligence service might also have been involved."11

There is also this report in the Pittsburgh-Tribune: "Some believe that after the successes of the U.S. military, Saeed Sheikh has acted as a "go between" for the "tall man" — as bin-Laden is known — and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)."12...and there are always the words of Daniel Pearl's widow:

"We first came to Karachi four month's ago: September 12, 2001. We flew in from New Delhi.... We had witnessed the [911] attacks almost as they had happened on CNN ... We were here to ask the big questions: Who was responsible for the attacks? Who financed them? Who protected the terrorists?.... In October, the FBI were looking for a link between Omar Saeed Sheikh and the then director of the ISI, Lieutenant General Mahmood Ahmed. They wanted to know who instructed Omar to wire the $100,000 to Mohammed Atta. I read that Ahmed had been dismissed as head of the ISI by President Musharraf on October 7, 2001. So it appeared Omar may have associated with the head of ISI and Al Qaeda. He surrendered to another former ISI officer who held him in custody for a week until just one day before Musharraf met with President Bush.... Questions bounce back and forth in my brain like a Ping-Pong ball gone wild. The distinctions between good and bad, government organisations and terrorist organisations, are not simply fading: they seem to be faces of the same coin. Did Musharraf know Omar was in custody? Could he not know? The CIA (God only knows what their position is here) didn't know?" - Mariane Pearl, A Mighty Heart, Virago Press, 2003.

So the question now becomes, "Do the chairmen of our House & Senate Intelligence Committes know this General Mahmoud Ahmad has in the very least, strong links to Al-queda & the Taliban?" Of course they do. That is what they will say the whole breakfast meeting is about, terrorism & OBL.7 But the bigger question is, "Do they know he ordered ASS to send $100,000 to MMA?" We know what that answer will be- It just happens to be another one of those crazy coincidences that pop up when-ever investigating anything regarding the events of 9/11.

So what happened to all these characters? Well since Bob Graham & Porter Goss where in the position they were in, they were put in charge of the investigation and public hearings of the so-called "intelligence failures" surrounding 9/11. How convenient.

Bob Graham ran as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 (that obviously didn't work out)and currently serves as the Chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. Perfect.

Porter Goss was appointed by George W. Bush as the new Director of the CIA in 2004 after George Tenet resigned due to all of those "intelligence failures." Really. He resigned in 2006 and is now living the life on the lecture circuit.

After General Mahmoud Ahmed was fired from his post as Director of the ISI for financing terrorism and 9/11, he has gone on to teach & preach with Tablighi Jamaat for the spiritual reform of Muslims. Wonderful.

As for Ahmed Umar Syed Shiekh, he nearly started a war in 2008 making prank phone calls from his prison cell posing as the Indian Foreign Minister in calls to the Pakistani President Zardari. Why isn't he dead yet? Read #12.

Depending on who you believe, Mohammed Atta is either still running around the middle-east incognito somewhere, in paradise with 70 virgins or rotting in the deepest bowels of hell. I refuse to speculate.

Smoking gun? Probably about as close as we will get. It depends on what Graham & Goss really knew as they sat eating breakfast with the Pakistani General that morning the towers came down.

1 TIME, Atta's Odyssey: How a shy, well-educated young Egyptian became a suspected ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks. The mystery begins to unfold in Germany, By JOHN CLOUD, Oct. 8, 2001. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,10987,1000939,00.html

2 CNN.com, India wants terror spotlight on Kashmir, By Maria A. Ressa, October 8, 2001. http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/10/08/india.ressa/

3 BBC News, Pakistan's coup: The 17-hour victory, November 11, 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/475195.stm

4 TIME, Rogues No More? By Tim McGirk, April 29, 2002.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501020506-233999,00.html#ixzz0dGoe3k6H

5 The New York Times, AFTER THE ATTACKS: THE DIPLOMACY; Powell Says It Clearly: No Middle Ground on Terrorism, By Jane Perlez, September 13, 2001. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/13/us/after-attacks-diplomacy-powell-says-it-clearly-no-middle-ground-terrorism.html?scp=1&sq=general++mahmoud+Ahmad&st=nyt

6 The Tampa Tribune, Phantom Flight From Florida, By Kathy Steele, Oct 5, 2001. http://web.archive.org/web/20011108145853/http://www.tampatrib.com/MGA3F78EFSC.html
7 The Washington Post, A Cloak But No Dagger: An Ex-Spy Says He Seeks Solutions, Not Scapegoats for 9/11, By Richard Leiby, Saturday, May 18, 2002; Page C01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A36091-2002May17¬Found=true

8 The New York Times, A NATION CHALLENGED: THE OUTLOOK; Cloud Over Pakistan: Is Musharraf's Life Safe? By Raymond Bonner, March 19, 2002. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/19/world/a-nation-challenged-the-outlook-cloud-over-pakistan-is-musharraf-s-life-safe.html

9 Guardian, Britain now faces its own blowback: Intelligence interests may thwart the July bombings investigation, by Michael Meacher, September 10, 2005. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/sep/10/terrorism.politics/print

10 Dawn, Gen Mahmud's exit due to links with Umar Sheikh, October 9, 2001. http://web.archive.org/web/20011011083446/http://www.dawn.com/2001/10/09/top13.htm

11 The New Yorker, What Went Wrong: The C.I.A. and the failure of American intelligence. by Seymour M. Hersh, October 8, 2001. http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2001/10/08/011008fa_FACT#ixzz0dIpfbT6T

12 Pittsburgh-Tribune, Did Pearl die because Pakistan decieved CIA? March 2, 2002. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_20141.html

Indian Point

All I want to say is that we are very fortunate that on September 11, 2001 we were attacked by whomever we were attacked by and NOT fanatical, terrorists hell-bent on the destruction of the United States.

If fanatics wanting to destroy the U.S. had attacked, I am sure they would have chosen a much choicer target. Only 24 miles north (upwind) of Manhattan lies the Indian Point Nuclear Reactor facility located in Buchanan, New York just south of Peekskill. If the perpetrators would have chosen Indian Point as the target for two 767s, rather than the World Trade Center, more than 500,000 could have easily died and New York City would have to be permanently abandoned. The 100 mile radius around the plant would be rendered useless for thousands of years.

I know this is no consolation to the families of those that did die on that day or as a result of the events that day. It is my purpose to help bring the real perpetrators of the crime out into the light of day so that hopefully they can be brought to justice.

Aaarrrrrrghhhh!!!!!!!!

Here are a few of my comments I posted in response to other posters regarding this story: Russian special forces storm oil tanker, free ship

Ha Ha Ha! Stavation. Hilarious! Wow. The ignorance and immaturity of the people posting here is truly astounding and I already thought most of the public was just a couple IQ points above taking the short bus to school.

Reading the ignorant & racist garbage posted here, I realize this won't be the most popular post but, I think the Pirates AARRRRRRR AAAAAAAWesome!!!!! The courage it must take of these poor, starving, oppressed people to challenge the ruling powers of the world is amazing. If all of you Einstein’s really want to get rid of them we should look at the root causes. How would you feel if a foreign power came to your country, told you you'd be rich if you let them take your oil and then they take your oil and make billions of dollars and give you nothing while your family starves in a rat-infested cardboard box? Who are the pirates again? The international corporations that oppress and exploit these people are the real pirates.

Al Qaeda is actually on your side folks! Don't you remember the story last week about them rooting the pirates out of their refuges on land? http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2010/04/somalia_al-qaida_franchise_pus.html You see Al Qaeda actually works for the CIA. Don't you remember about how they gave us an excuse to go set up our trans-Afghani pipeline & launch Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL)? I dare anyone to find a story about pirates seizing a ship full of oil bound for the U.S. They know better. Quit being so ignorant people and starting paying attention.

That Dag-nabbed Big Gov'ment!

Here is a response I posted to this article; Remodeling costs could jump next week because of new federal rule, contractors say By Stephen Koff, The Plain Dealer on Cleveland.com (The Cleveland Plain Dealer web-site) that I often peruse.


We have the essence of the political/philosophical conundrum in this country all right here in a nutshell. On one hand we have our government stepping up and doing a little (very little) regulating of an industry in the interest of public safety & on the other hand you have private industry (and some consumers) upset that it will drive up the costs.
The usual way this works is industry has an insider in the government making sure these regulations never get written or enforced but this time one slipped through. Whether it is enforced remains to be seen. Now, the next thing to happen will be the industry having it shills go out & convince the public what a bad rule or regulation this is (notice wording of this article's headline). The industry hopes this will cause enough backlash that the rule is rewritten or never enforced. Usually the loudmouths win and "we the people" are once again saved from the evil "big government."
Wake up people! Government regulations are there to protect us from private industry whose ONLY concern is profit. It is the lack of regulations and enforcement that has allowed the energy industry to continue raising our oceans and heating our planet while they continue to make record profits. It is this lack of regulation that has allowed the health insurers to drive up costs over 200%, drop clients and still make record profits. It is this lack of regulation that allows big pharma to peddle every new pill it can (whether it is safe or NOT!) & in many cases has the government do it for them. What new vaccine will we or our kids need next year? It is this same lack of regulation and enforcement that has allowed our financial institutions to play blackjack with our economy while we lose our homes and jobs.
Granted that for regulations to work they must be applied fairly and enforced. But to those that always talk about wanting "smaller government" meaning "less/no regulations" be careful what you wish for because we are living with the results of de-regulation.
As for this particular rule, I have no clue as to what it governs or how it is to be applied even after reading the informative "news" article. One thing is for sure, any extra costs will be passed on to the workers and/or consumers and then we can decide if the industry survives.
Of course I can't leave out the last thing to happen. If this industry is well connected (as most are) and has it's insiders properly in place it can survive by making sure the rules are never enforced or if things go bad enough helping that industry get subsidized or bailed-out.
That's the kind of "big government" I can do without. That's not government at all. That's corporatism. To those running around screaming "socialism" and worried about the government taking over industry, you have got it all backwards. The banks and private industry took over our government long ago.

Healthcare is a ball in the ocean.

There it is! My public option. Also known as the SBX radar, just one part of a $19 billion a year SDI defense system that is a proven failure yet is being deployed anyway. Why do we need this again?

In response to John Boccieri announcing he'll back health care bill, I say this:

I will still probably support Obama, Kucinich & Boccieri come election time because I feel they will still probably be the far lesser of the two evils but there is no disputing Obama had to twist some arms to get support for this out of Kucinich & Boccieri to get them on board. I applaud them for holding out as long as they did because I do not support this bill. Healthcare reform is desperately needed in this country but this bill doesn't come close to what is needed. This bill will provide no universal healthcare or public option. It will provide a requirement for everyone without healthcare (because they can't afford it) to get healthcare now. It will be just like car insurance. They will have to buy it from the same insurance companies that are jacking up their rates and caused this mess to begin with. I would have much preferred all three of these guys stuck to their principles and rammed a public option plan through congress despite any opposition (just like the Republicans would do under W). It could easily all be funded if we spent a fraction less on the two pointless wars we are still engaging or if stopped spending trillions on developing & deplying defense systems that are no longer necessary or don't even work (i.e., SDI, F22 Raptors & 10 new Ford Class aircraft carriers). It's outrageous that we have people that can't afford medicine or medical care in this country yet we pay for public health care in Iraq & Afghanistan. God bless America! Hope you have some tissue.

Kucinich finally caves...but at he least he put up a fight.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland steps off Air Force One at Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland, Monday. He flew in with President Obama for Obama's visit to Strongsville.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich to vote "yes" on health care

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich waited until Democrats had won last November's health care reform vote before casting his ballot against it on the House of Representatives floor.

This time around -- pressured by everyone from President Obama to Moveon.org -- the Cleveland Democrat had no luxury to dawdle before taking a stance. He announced at a Capitol news conference this morning that he'll vote "yes" on the bill's latest draft.

"I have doubts about the bill," Kucinich said. "This is not the bill I wanted to support. . . However, after careful discussions with President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, my wife Elizabeth and close friends, I’ve decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation."

Bill opponents pounced quickly. Said an e-mail alert from the National Republican Congressional Committee: "Left-wing icon flips from 'No,' exposes so-called moderates."

Kucinich's move came after months of insisting he'd oppose the bill because it doesn't do enough to curtail insurance company abuses. Kucinich advocates bolstering Medicare and expanding its coverage to include all Americans.

But he acknowledged this morning that his choice now is to either vote "no" on principle, and thereby possibly block the biggest (though imperfect) advance in health coverage in decades, or compromise for the good of the estimated 30 million more Americans who could gain insurance.

"I have taken this fight further" than many other Congress members, Kucinich said, citing his two presidential campaigns in which he advocated universal coverage and his bill introduction and other attempts in the House to get single-payer insurance.

He told reporters that if they want to see first-hand the tough economic and health-care choices that many Americans face, they should "come to the 10th District in Ohio and you'll understand."

Kucinich's field office on Cleveland's West Side routinely helps constituents with their social services needs, and that includes dealing with insurance matters, he said. He cited his own impoverished childhood, saying, "I grew up understanding what it meant to struggling families who did not get adequate care."

"I understand the connection between poverty and poor health care," he said.

As an adult, he has struggled with Crohn's Disease, and although he follows an alternative diet as one way of dealing with it, he also has had "access to the best" health care around.

"I know I have to make a decision, not on the bill as I would like to see it, but as it is," Kucinich said.

His recent criticism of the bill included a column he authored for last Sunday's Plain Dealer, in which he wrote:

"Even with the few modest improvements in the bill, the insurance companies will still have dozens of loopholes to deny care and continue to find ways to leave Americans with the unpayable bill."

But Democrats are struggling to round up the 216 votes they need to pass the bill amid heavy lobbying from its opponents and its supporters, and Kucinich''s arms were twisted.

President Obama personally lobbied for his vote Monday on a ride to Cleveland aboard Air Force One, and at a health care reform rally in Strongsville. Picketers descended on Kucinich's Lakewood office to register their displeasure with his announced opposition to the package slated for consideration this week.

By Sabrina Eaton, The Plain Dealer, March 17, 2010

This is my response to the morons commenting on the story here:

You did all you could Dennis. Holding out any longer would have been pointless. As for you mis-informed masses, Dennis Kucinich has been & still is the best advocate for the working poor this country has. He held out on this not because of the non-existent tax increase or because of the debt burden but because it turns around and hands the same insurance companies that have caused this mess more business. He held out on principle. He wants Universal care for everyone. This bill will not provide that. Keep up the good fight Dennis! I happen to know my opinion is in the minority on this forum but after reading the majority of the previous comments, I am quite proud of that. No wonder things are the way they are here in this country. It seems to me that the majority needs to turn off the Fox & Rush & pick up a book. People of Cleveland! People of America! Educate yourselves! Stop believing the propoganda. Stop voting against your own interests!

Check out Dennis.

Kweezy Returns!!!

I've been taking a break from blogging about all the problems of the world for a little bit in order to pursue another creative outlet of mine. I used to make these tapes of really crappy home-made music. The last was "released" in 1997. I produced these little creations under the name of Kweezy.

My recording technology consisted of a tape-recorder & a stereo. I'd record something on the tape & then I might play that back on the stereo really loud & play along with that & record that too. I could get two dubs on one tape. Any more than that and the background noise & hiss would make everything else barely audible. Just one or two dubs sounded bad enough.

So now that I have access to a computer & free downloadable recording programs on the web, I have decided to revisit this old past-time of mine and try my hand at recording digitally.

I really have no idea what I am doing but I am definitely having a lot of fun with it. My whole life it seems, I have heard music/songs in my head. Fleeting moments of inspiration would come out of nowhere at the least expected times and then suddenly disappear. If the moment isn't captured somehow then the potential masterpiece could be lost forever. I am sure all artsy types of people experience this & know what I mean. If you're a writer you can jot it down or type it out. Hopefully you can keep up with your thoughts. A painter can make a sketch or doodle. A musician/song writer has to record it unless they happen to know how to actually read & write in musical notation. I don't & most of your favorite music was probably not written on a piece of paper (except the lyrics).

I used to console myself by saying, "well if I forgot it then it must not have been worth remembering." Their may be some validity to this but certainly not always. Often I will hear a whole song with rhythm changes and different harmonizing melodies. Its hard to just remember all of it and how they fit together.

So now I finally have a set up in my basement that will allow me to record these moments when they arrive (if I'm at home). At least that's the theory. Technology still kicks my ass quite a bit but I am slowly figuring it out. You can check out my stuff here.

I got my Tin Hat buckled on tight for this one.

Did the U.S. Navy cause the Haitian earthquake?

Yes, my Tin Hat is on way too tight but my tongue is only half in my cheek on this one. One thing I will not argue against is that the earthquake in Haiti was a terrible tragedy. Something just seems fishy about the whole thing though. Some of the poorest people on the planet. Way too easy to exploit. It just seems like the country is an easy target. I don't know for what or why. Did you notice that almost as soon as the earthquake happened, all the "news" agencies started speculating on the inevitable looting. The Looting! THE LOOTING! They were all talking about looting before there were any reports of looting. I still don't think there have been any reports of a large-scale looting problem. I mean, a city has just been shattered & thousands of people are dead and they are worried about looting? Of course we must send the troops in!

"Others are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves." -Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, April 28, 1997, 8:45 AM EDT

Source: The United States Department of Defense, Transcript of DoD News Briefing by Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, April 28, 1997. http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=674
January 12, 2010, The magnitude 7.0 quake -- the most powerful to hit Haiti in a century -- struck shortly before 5 p.m. and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It could be felt strongly in eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away, witnesses said. -CNN

Read a brief history of U.S. & European exploitation of Haiti in The Gleaner, The Hate & the Quake, Sir Hillary Beckles, January 24, 2010.

I realize that we do have the technology to create earthquakes through certain types of drilling or maybe even with powerful transmissions of a certain frequency but I don't think that is what happened in Haiti despite whatever Venezuela's president might say. I like him though. He's hilarious. Here's a quote of his taken from his 2006 address to the UN.

CHAVEZ (through translator): "Representatives of the governments of the world, good morning to all of you. First of all, I would like to invite you, very respectfully, to those who have not read this book, to read it. Noam Chomsky, one of the most prestigious American and world intellectuals, Noam Chomsky, and this is one of his most recent books, 'Hegemony or Survival: The Imperialist Strategy of the United States.'" [Holds up book, waves it in front of General Assembly.]

"It's an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century, and what's happening now, and the greatest threat looming over our planet. The hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very survival of the human species. We continue to warn you about this danger and we appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our heads. I had considered reading from this book, but, for the sake of time," [flips through the pages, which are numerous] "I will just leave it as a recommendation.
It reads easily, it is a very good book, I'm sure Madame [President] you are familiar with it. It appears in English, in Russian, in Arabic, in German. I think that the first people who should read this book are our brothers and sisters in the United States, because their threat is right in their own house. The devil is right at home. The devil, the devil himself, is right in the house.

"And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here." [crosses himself]

"And it smells of sulfur still today."
Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.
You can read the rest of his awesome speech here.
Anyway... All I'm saying is that the U.S. may not have caused the Haiti disaster but I can guarantee that U.S. corporations will see this as another great opportunity for exploitation of this poorest of countries that is physically right in our backyard.

Tragedy in Haiti & Pat Robertson is the biggest dick in the world.

This is an image from Haiti from before the devestating earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010.

Haiti should be a warning to us all. As we watch the bodies pile up in the streets of Port-au-Prince and troops deploy to bring aid and order we need to reflect on how an earthquake could be so devastating to this country.


Pat Robertson has his opinions. According to him the hand of God is punishing the poor Haitian people for making a deal with the Devil in their fight for freedom from the French in 1804. That's right. According to this mouth-piece for the Lord, the thousands and thousands of people that died in the earthquake, many of whom aren't even Haitian have all died because God is mad at them for refusing to be slaves over 200 years ago. Pat Robertson IS truly evil. Anyone that agrees with him is an ignorant racist bigot. Pat is not ignorant. He knows full well the weight of his words and the power they hold over his flock. I can only pretend to pray that there is a hell for him to eternally burn in.



Please God. Please allow Satan to boil the insides of Pat Robertson in such a manner that his scalding entrails steam and ooze from his every orifice and his flesh is charred like that of those that have burned to death in Haiti in order for him to better empathize with these victims. Please allow him to stay conscious through levels of pain that would normally cause a person to go into shock or lose consciousness.


I joke of course. If the God that Pat pretends to believe in really does exist, I am sure he will know just what to do with him.


I am sure Pat is familiar with the 3rd commandment: "Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain." I never understood how he and his ilk managed to stay in business while preaching their so-called, "word of the Lord" out of one side of their mouths while begging for "donations" from the ignorant and desperate out of the other side. If ever there was a violation of the 3rd commandment it is this profiteering from false propheteering.

Way to go Browns! Hope you don't Cribbs!

Now that the momentous Mangini decision is out of the way, Josh Cribbs cleans out his locker.

The back story:

Al Lerner (Brooklyn, NY native, former Marine and chairman of MBNA bank) helps his pal, Art Modell move my beloved Cleveland Browns to Baltimore to become the Ravens. Then in 1998, Al purchased the rights to the team we now also coincidentally call the Cleveland Browns. Al died in 2002, leaving his billions and the new Browns team to his son, Randy. Randy graduated with a Law degree from Columbia University in 1984 and helped sell MBNA to Bank of America in 2006 for $35 billion.

While Randy may be a fine billionaire, businessman and lawyer, he seems to have very little knowledge of this game called football here in the USA. He may however have a bit more knowledge or at least interest in what they call football over in the UK and is also owner and chairman of the Aston Villa Football club. He is also quite a philanthropist and art-lover, making the largest charitable donation ever to London's famed National Portrait Gallery. According to Wikipedia, he is married with 4 kids. That's all I'm saying about that other than he loves wearing ascots to London art museums.

I bring all this up to point out that Randy's interests probably don't really lie in Cleveland or football. Some of his business interests do for sure but I don't really think he could tell you the difference between a punter or a quarterback if you asked him. Good luck with asking him though if you are a Cleveland Browns fan. Randy is the equivalent of an absentee landlord when it comes the Browns. He rarely attends the games, rarely gives interviews and although Forbes has his residence listed in Cleveland it's really just his Dad's old estate. Randy prefers his place on Long Island, NY with his Spielberg and Seinfeld neighbors or over across the pond near his art museum and futball team. To his credit, I think he knows he knows very little about football and has been searching for a face and team leader since he took over ownership.

Let's review:

1946 to 1995- The Browns are the pride of Cleveland with many Championships and competitive teams. My first memories are of Sipe, Rutigliano & the Kardiac Kids. The Dawg pound is born. Kosar & company are great. Although I've never seen them play I take pride in the stories of past glory and greats like Otto Graham & Jim Brown.

1999- from the 49ers, the Browns return with Carmen Policy as CEO/president and Dwight Clark as GM. Chris Palmer (former offensive coordinator of the Jaguars) takes the reigns for the first time as an NFL headcoach. Palmer goes 5-27 in his two years with the Browns. To rub salt in the wound, the Ravens win the Superbowl XXXV at the end of 2000 season.

2001- from the University of Miami, Butch Davis gets his first crack at being an NFL headcoach and takes the team to 7-9. Dwight Clark resigns as GM and the team goes 9-7 with a brief appearance in the playoffs in 2002, only to lose in the first round to Pittsburgh.

Dec. 2002- Al Lerner dies and leaves the team to Randy.

2003- Davis reverts to a 5-11 season and resigns after a 3-8 start in 2004. Policy had already resigned earlier in the year. Offensive Coordinator, Terry Robiskie (Brian's dad) is left holding the bag as interim headcoach.

2005- Randy hires Phil Savage as GM and Romeo Crennel (former defensive coordinator for the Patriots) to take a turn at trying to be an NFL headcoach and goes 6-10. The Browns sign Josh Cribbs out of Kent State as an undrafted free agent, he makes the team, averages 24.5 yards per return, and his total of 1,094 return yards set a franchise record.

2006- The Browns go 4-12. Josh Cribbs signs a 6-year contract extension ($6 million over 6 years) and he breaks his own franchise record for most kickoff yardage in a season.

2007- Miracle of Miracles. DA, K2, J-Lew & Braylon light it up and go 10-6. They still don't make the playoffs because DA chokes in the play-off, clinching Cincy game. Josh Cribbs goes to the ProBowl as the AFC 's kick returner.

2008- Disaster of disasters. Cribbs is told by Savage in training camp that his contract will be renegotiated at the end of the year. Randy reiterates that promise. The Browns go 4-12, go through 4 QBs and finish the season with 6 straight losses, 24 quarters without an offensive touchdown and are completely shutout in the final two games. Crennel & Savage are fired. Cribbs scores a touchdown on a kickoff return for the fourth straight season, scores a rushing TD on Monday Night Football and is named as an emergency back-up QB but gets no new contract.

2009- Randy hires former Brown's ball boy and former headcoach of the Jets (23-25), Eric Mangini to take over and allows him to hand-pick his own GM (George Kokinis). Randy fires George halfway through the season and after a 1-11 start, the team wins the last four games in a row to end up 5-11. Josh Cribbs did not get a new contract as promised nor did he hold out of training camp. He did show up and play his guts out every game. He caught 20 passes for 135 yards and a TD, ran the ball 55 times for 381 yards and a TD, threw the ball 4 times for 18 yards, returned 38 punts for 452 yards and a TD, and returned 39 kicks for 1542 yards and 3 TDs. Cribbs was once again named to the ProBowl and now holds the all-time NFL record for most kick-returns for touchdowns. On a team that only scored 25 touchdowns all season, Cribbs scored 6 of them in four different ways.

2010- Holmgren takes over as president "the guy" in Jan. 2010. Holmgren keeps Mangini and offers Cribbs the same offer they gave him earlier in the year which they knew was unacceptable. Cribbs cleans out his locker and asks for a trade. Way to go new guy.

But back to the point I think I was trying to make. Randy Lerner is clueless and Josh Cribbs deserves more money. I say this as a guy who won't make in my lifetime what Cribbs makes now in a year. I'm just following the capitalist logic of you are what you are worth. Randy is clueless because he comes out in the middle of a horrible losing season and meets with two loud-mouth fans that are threatening to boycott the kick-off of a game. They weren't threatening not to attend or buy tickets or merchandise. They just weren't gonna watch the first few minutes. Well it worked. It definitely got Randy's attention. So much so that he proclaims he will hire a big-name, football-czar to run the show. He had just hired Mangini to do that less than a year before that. He then hires a guy (Holmgren) to be the coach's new boss (or the new coach) before the season is even over and then he disappears from the scene once again. Randy where are you!!!!!!!!!!

As for what Josh Cribbs is worth? I don't know exactly how much money the NFL & Browns get from tv & radio ads during the games but, I do know Josh Cribbs was about the only reason many of us tuned in or showed up at the stadium this last season. So from that perspective, he is worth the entire advertisement sales revenue of the Cleveland Browns. Without him no one would have watched. No one would have known if the games were blacked out or not because no one would have cared. I think he is worth more than an O-lineman that didn't play at all last year and played only 1 game in 2008 but Ryan Tucker is still making 4 times the amount of Cribbs. I think he is worth more than a completely useless wide-receiver that ran over and killed a guy while drinking and driving and didn't play at all last year but, Donte Stallworth still gets paid more from Randy Lerner than Josh Cribbs does. Ryan Pontbriand the long snapper makes 5 times the amount Josh Cribbs does! That's why Randy may be a great businessman and knows how to screw over his best player, the only reason to watch his team in order to save a buck but he does NOT know football or the fans of Cleveland.

If he wants his team to make money by having fans then he might want to make us fans happy by paying the only reason we watch this team what he is worth. Otherwise, Josh Cribbs will be gone and so will a lot of other long-time, paying customers in brown & orange. The team will just not represent something I am able to support anymore. I will no longer be able to support or root for a team that treats it's finest player that way. Cribbs did sign a contract. He has played way above and beyond the parameters that original contract was based upon. He has far exceeded expectations and has taken on many more roles and responsibilities since that signing. He deserves a fair raise that is comparable to other players of his caliber. Instead the Browns are taking advantage of the fact that Cribbs did not have a big-time agent when he signed that first contract. Randy, Holmgren, Mangini, Dawn Aponte, Romeo, Savage all know he is worth far more than what he is getting paid.

Cribbs now wants traded because the Browns will not treat him fairly and prefer to play low-ball with him. He is cleaning out the locker. Randy! Holmgren! Mangini! Pay the man! Because if he walks, I will too. I am sure that many others may as well. How can I cheer for an organization that treats a player like Cribbs, who has never been a detraction or problem, from all accounts is a great teammate, a fine example to our kids, and a public servant to the community of Cleveland like he is only worth $1 million a year? Now that I think about it.... that really doesn't sound too bad. I wonder who we could get in a trade for him?

No, back to original thought.... Get a clue Randy! Pay the Man!

What's your poison?

I know I'm a big whack job but just hear me out for a second. Which do you think the government would prefer of these two choices?

A. Find cures for deseases such as Cancer and help enforce and regulate policies that will help prolong the life-spans of ordinary Americans that have paid into Social Security and Medicare so that they can collect those benefits from the government for a longer period of time after retirement.

B. Not look too hard for those cures and allow all kinds of life-shortening, chemicals and poisons in our food and drugs in order to avoid paying out as much of that Social Security and Medicare.

Do you think the health insurance industry would prefer that we live long, healthy lives or short, healthy lives? I'm just guessing but I would bet that on average, shorter lives are less expensive than longer lives.

I'm speculating again but I'm thinking that most industry probably has little use for people after they move into their twilight years and are no longer the wage earners and big consumers they once were. Once people start collecting checks rather than earning them I would imagine that government and industry would see them as a burden.

So is it so crazy to think that the government is allowing or helping maintain our lifespans at a manageable level by poisoning our air, water, food, and drugs? Remember hurricane Katrina? That told me right then and there how much our government is out to save it's people. You can't seriously think that if those people drowning were in the Hamptons or Silicon Valley they would have recieved the same delayed and shoddy treatment as the lower-income, residents of New Orleans' ninth ward.

I'm trying to count how many poisons I have ingested today or fed to my family:
1. Flouride in the water I drank. check (did you know that if a company accidently dumped this stuff in the water they could technically be arrested but if your city doesn't dump it in the water they could technically be arrested?)
2. Aspartame in my can of diet Coke. check
3. High fructose corn syrup in just about everything we ate. check (Have you ever looked at a school lunch menu?)
4. Sodium nitrate in the bologna sandwich. check
5. I didn't take or feed my kids any medicines today so I know we missed out on a whole bunch of cool chemicals there.
6. Growth hormones and antibiotics in the milk I gave my daughter. check (oh, the guilt...I should be arrested for abuse and could be if I lived in Europe)
7. Cyanide, Ammonia, Carbon Monoxide & over 500 others in the cigar I smoked. check

Dammit! I haven't had my MSG or hydrogenated oils yet. Okay. I'm getting depressed now. I think I'll go smoke another cigar, drive on the icy roads and talk on my cell phone on my way to get a flu vaccine. jk- I would never get a flu vaccine.

Seriously, maybe it's time to go organic, stop eating meat and stop smoking.

What's in the water?

Yes, the clip is hilarious. I remember watching this movie for the first time years ago and thinking that General Ripper was one heck of a crazy nut job. However, now I do have to ask myself if maybe he wasn't on to something. In our society where absolutely nothing is free either we have all been getting free dental health care through our drinking water for years or we are unknowingly paying for this wonderful non-voluntary service to help prevent tooth decay. So I called up my local water treatment plant and talked to a man there about it. He told me that all of the local water in our town is provided by deep wells and that yes they do add fluoride to it along with a few other chemicals such as chlorine. I told him I had never seen any charges for fluoridation on my water bill. He assured me that the costs were probably passed along to me with the water bill. I felt relieved. I did have to ask for the record just what the purpose of the fluoride was and he did tell me it was due to "national recommendations" to prevent tooth decay. What a wonderful service and how thoughtful of our government to look out for us like that. I also asked what chemical manufacturer our town purchased it's fluoride supply from. "SAL chemical."

So I checked out the Sal Chemical website. Man, what a list of products they manufacture down there in the shadows off the mountain-top, mine-blasted, hills of Weirton, WV. I really hope this chemical company isn't just a reseller for by-products of the Taconite and Coal mining industry down there. This is sort of off-the subject but Mountaintop mining and the environmental devastation it causes are a major hazard to the health of the water and the people that live in Appalachia. Did you hear about how a billion gallons of coal slurry got dumped into the tributaries of the Tennessee River (the drinking water source for Chattanooga and other communities downstream in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky) last Christmas? Probably not. Our media doesn't find corporations or government agencies (in this case the TVA) poisoning our drinking water very newsworthy.

Anyway, I didn't see fluoride on the list though so I had to call them up too. So, I spoke to a lady at SAL Chemical and asked if they produced fluoride for municipalities. She asked who I was and why I wanted to know so I told her I was from where I am from and was new at the job at the treatment plant and needed to reorder. She looked it up in her computer and told me we normally purchase Hydrofluosilicic Acid 23%. I did see this in their product list. Google this stuff. Just the stuff you want to be drinking. Here's the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). I particularly like this part:

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW: DANGER! CORROSIVE. Causes severe burns to eyes, skin, and respiratory tract. Harmful or fatal if swallowed. Harmful if inhaled. Contact with water may generate toxic, irritating and corrosive gases.

WTF!?!? "Fatal if swallowed"? "Contact with water may generate toxic gases"? Good Lord! This is what they are dumping in our water? So all the good people of my town (AND MOST LIKELY YOURS) that consume water every day are drinking this poison? I know that this stuff is diluted down to the point (1 ppm) that you can barely taste it but it is still the same chemical. Over the course of a year how much tap water/flouride do we consume? I'm sure the bottled water is just as bad. I doubt it is much more than tap water sold in bottles.

I'm not gonna get into any global population control conspiracies here. I wouldn't want to sound like a crazy nut job or anything. I'm just saying it's about time we all took a hard look at what chemicals the government is recommending our cities put into our drinking water. Here are some of the known negative side-effects of flouridation at 1ppm. Would we even know if they changed it up once in a while by maybe bumping it up to 2ppm on accident or modified what they dump in there on occasion? Ever wonder why the water tastes different in one town from another? It's all just water right?