Well if this banking and finance stuff is too hard to keep track of and you are interested in what’s really happening right now, watch this video. Its 30 minutes and plus it s cartoon. Kid safe and educational.

At the very least, watching this video will make you aware of why things are the way they are in the world currently. For me personally, I felt like this as I was watching the video.

For years throughout human history there have been the murmurings of dark alliances. Improbable and outrageous conspiracy theories regarding the “true” powers that controlled the world… and for years, despite evidence to the contrary, the people that have adamantly proselytized over and over that there was a “worldwide conspiracy to control the world by unseen powers” were dismissed as “alarmist” and “unbalanced”. While I do no argue that there are unbalanced people in this world recent world events have pushed some ugly truths out into the light.

The age old conspiracy was that there is a global international banking cartel that plots to subjugate every man, woman, and child on this earth through financial means is an old one. Growing up, I would watch as adults would guffaw in outrage and pass such ideas off as radical fringe behavior. I was guilty of the same behavior myself but the conspiracy cat is out of the proverbial bag at this point.

In a strange sort of way this financial collapse is a good thing for everyone (everyone who is paying attention that is…). Its positive in the regard that it has pushed into the light, the fact that the world’s banking and financial system DOES in fact run the civilized world. I don’t think it was planned this way but the “masterminds” behind this financial disaster forgot to include one important factor in their calculations, and that is the fact that greed takes on a life of its own and ends up consuming itself.

The financial institutions, investment firms, hedge funds and loan providers got so greedy, that its culminated into a “DEFCON 1″ scenario where the whole financial system was on the verge of total collapse. So in response, the insolvent banking systems, freshly “evaluated” from the recent government stress tests are now pillaging the very citizens in which they intended to enslave, and our government is in complete support of the saddling of insurmountable debt for many generations to come.

What does it say about the power structure in this country and more importantly, the world when the flailing banking and financial industry has consumed itself in endless greed and now crawl back to world governments and begged for bailouts? The government gives the banking system the bailouts they groveled for and in response, the banks take the money that the citizens have loaned them by proxy and then re-loan our money back to us with interest!

How much more uncapitalist can you get? So my question is “when does it stop being a conspiracy and start becoming fact?”.

I have sat back quietly and watched “Mr. Change” Barack Obama and its time to speak out. I think I have given Mr. Obama the benefit of the doubt and now its time to comment.

Despite his initial speech to the world promising a new era of “Transparency” and open government, he has gone back on almost every single one of his promises and stances in his first 100 days in office. Its time to record some of this “Change” he has promised us.

Before you try to slam me or make assumptions about this post or this blog, go back into the archives and check out some of the criticism I’ve leveled at our last great president and his shining administration. At this point its not the false “right vs. left” argument thats distracting most of the people in this country, its really and issue of the Federal government vs. the American people.

So without further ado, lets see how the latest presidential administration is handling the new “Change” they been touting since last year. This latest report is brought to you by Rawstory.com.

According to Michael Isikoff on the Rachael Maddow show detailed a “secret meeting” between Obama and his closest officials and select members of Civil rights groups and the press. From the article:

The meeting was off the record, but MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reported that Obama was “demonstrably not pleased” when told that he was “allowing President Bush’s policies to become his own.” Obama also “curtly” dismissed any suggestion of a truth commission or even a single symbolic torture prosecution.

At the same time, probably one of the least effective Congress’s in the history of our government voted 90-6 to pull any funding regarding the closure of  the U.S. run Guantanamo Bay gulag. Not only do we have a president that continues to carry on W’s policies, we have a more than ever complicit Congress just following along.

I dont know if this is the “change” I’ve been looking for…

From the AP article:

Erik Prince, the founder of the beleaguered Blackwater security company, announced Monday he has stepped aside as the company’s chief executive officer.

Prince said he has appointed a new president and a new CEO. The management shake up, he said, was part of the company’s “continued reorganization and self-improvement.”

For those of you who don’t know, Blackwater USA/International/Xe is a private security contractor that was heavily used by the Bush administration in Iraq and other unconstitutional actions like “policing” American citizens during the aftermath of Katrina. They have been embroiled in controversy after allegedly slaughtering dozens of civilians in Iraq and have since had their license to operate revoked by the Iraqi government.

What happens when your “brand” is ruined? Just rename yourself. Blackwater is now known as Xe (pronounced as “z”). So the next time you hear of a mass of civilians from a third world country getting massacred by a group of mercenaries from a “new” group named Xe, then just know that its Blackwater.

Hey, what do you know? More relevant news that the Mainstream media isn’t reporting. They would rather have you wring your hands over Michael Phelps’ olympic sized bong hits and totally remain oblivious to the fact that 8 different state legislatures have drawn a line in the sand and are introducing bills declaring sovereignty from the United States!

So far the tally is includes the following:

1. Washington

2. New Hampshire

3. Arizona

4. Montana

5. Michigan

6. Missouri

7. Oklahoma

8. Hawaii

The main precedent on the claims by the states are recited by the 9th and 10th amendment of the Constitution (part of the bill of rights). Most of this legislation is in the preliminary stages and is not earth shattering news but this is definitely something that should be a blip on the medias’ radar. The most serious and tangible of these eight are surprisingly, New Hampshire of all places.  From Pat Dollard’s blog:

The New Hampshire state legislature took an unbelievably bold step Monday by introducing a resolution to declare certain actions by the federal government to completely totally void and warning that certain future acts will be viewed as a “breach of peace” with the states themselves that risks “nullifying the Constitution.”

This act by New Hampshire is a clear warning to the federal government that they could face being stripped of their power by the States (presumably through civil war!)

The remarkable document outlines with perfect clarity, some basics long forgotten. For instance, it reminds Congress “That the Constitution of the United States, having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States, piracies, and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations, slavery, and no other crimes whatsoever;. . . . . therefore all acts of Congress which assume to create, define, or punish crimes, other than those so enumerated in the Constitution are altogether void, and of no force;”

Federal gun crime laws? Void. Federal drug crime laws? Void. The gazzillion other federal criminal laws that deal with anything other than the specific enumerated crimes? ALL VOID.

Looks like states are fed up and no longer trust the federal government to look out for our best interests as a nation. Just look at California…

Maybe the federal government knew this was coming? I can’t help to think that this is why Northcomm plans to deploy 20,000 active duty troops in the United States by 2011 (“Just in case” of some civil unrest!?!?). Coincidence?

Stay tuned chiiiildren!

Stay connected to whats going on around your world. Knowledge, power and understanding.

Here are some more videos from Immortal Technique. Great beats and lyrics with substance (warning: some graphic images).

If you’ve been paying attention to the events happening in this country as of late, you should notice that the consciousness of our government and people are slowly moving towards a fascist direction. I don’t know if we are a full fledged fascist empire yet but we sure seem to be exhibiting a lot of the symptoms of one. Take for instance this quote from Benito Mussolini:

“Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”

– Benito Mussolini (from Encyclopedia Italiana, Giovanni Gentile, editor)

What used to be a free and democratic state, we have collectively been dragged into a new social paradigm. The moves have been slow and deliberate much like a pick chipping away at a monolithic stone. One thing is for sure, the country we have known and grown up with is a thing of the past. The acceleration of the loss of our liberties have been severe within the last 8 years especially. So lets list the 14 core tenants of fascism and see if we here in the U.S. have fulfilled these conditions;

From Rense.com:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism – The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected – The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed – Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment – Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections – Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

I wont go into specifics but I will leave you, the reader to decide if we have met these conditions yet. The next logical question one would ask is “How can we turn the tide and reverse these events?”.

A truism from George Bernard Shaw that I refer to occasionally:

Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

The answer? WAKE UP! Get involved!

Publicintegrity.org was kind enough to compile the mostly complete list of failures of the Bush Administration during these last 8 miserable years. Of course some of the “failures” can be disputed but most of them are verified and abject failures in policy and outright inaction. See whe whole list here.

Of course listed here are mostly policy failures, this isn’t taking into account the other statistics like the skyrocketing deficit, the fact that “W” has taken more vacation than any other president in history and the fact that under Bush’s watch, over 200 years of representative democracy has been transformed into to a quasi facist state that no longer follows free market principals.

You’re doing a hella of a job W! Good riddance!

In the latest shining example of how our government treats our war veterans. An Iraq war veteran, Nick Morgan, was part of a peaceful protest in Nassau county, New York on the night of October 15th, 2008. Mounted police charged the crowd of U.S. war veterans with horses and knocked Morgan to the ground and then the horse stomped his skull shattering 3 orbital bones and knocking him unconscious. He was then dragged to the police van and tossed in and arrested. He is now being charged with disorderly conduct.

In his latest update on the Iraq Veterans Against the War website he writes:

I have spent several hours at the VA in Philadelphia and will be having surgery on Thursday, Oct. 23rd to stop my eye from sinking into my sinus cavity. The lower orbital (cheekbone) on the right side of my face is broken in three places. My nose may be fractured but will heal by itself since it is not out of place. I also have scrapes, bruises, and significant pain in my ribs (the x-rays were negative).

Every day someone tells me how much better my face looks. The stitches are still in and look like they are ready to come out. The swelling has almost subsided but there is still a fair amount of blood around my eye. My vision is a little blurry sometimes but it should get better. I don’t have feeling in a portion of my upper lip, nose, and upper right set of teeth. The surgeons said the feeling might come back depending on what type of nerve damage occurred. It’s getting much easier to eat. I just have to make sure to stay away from crunchy things and to take small bites, as my mouth still won’t open completely. Sleeping isn’t exactly easy because I can only sleep on my back due to my injuries….but other than all that, life is good!

Nick Morgan (without knowledge regarding the details of his service while he was enlisted as a Sergeant in the army) not only risked his well being for our country overseas but coming back home and realizing that the Constitution he swore to defend was in trouble and then deciding to continue the fight back home, that my friends is the definition of a hero. Best wishes to a speedy recovery to you Mr. Morgan.

On a final note, (besides only being reported by a handful of blogs and a brief AP article) shame, shame, shame! on the mass media outlets for NOT reporting on this story. I guess news stories like this are more important?

Watch the movie here. Warning: The movie is fairly graphic and brutal.

What is the “Constitution Free zone”? Well according to the article:

The ACLU says a “Constitution-free zone” exists within 100 miles of the US border, where DHS claims the authority to stop, search and detain anyone for any reason. Nearly two-thirds of the US population lives within 100 miles of the border, according to the ACLU, and the border zone encompasses scores of major metropolitan areas and even entire states.

So what kinds of things happen in “The zone”?

Wednesday’s event also featured a video testimonial from Vince Peppard, another San Diegoan who faced trouble from border agents. Peppard said he was stopped at least 20 miles inside the border on a return trip from Mexico. He refused to open his trunk “on a matter of principle” and was detained for about 30 minutes.

“I didn’t feel like I was in the United States,” he says. “I felt like I was in some kind of police state.”

Alarming information from the various media outlets are becoming more frequent and overt the closer Bush is to the end of his second presidential term. I can’t help but to ask myself “Is this feeling in my gut what consciencious german citizens felt when they witnessed the birth of the 3rd Reich?”.