A Bit Depressing

It can be really over-whelming to think of the mess we have gotten into in our country.

The rich own the media (approx. 5 companies own just about everything), and have decided that the fourth estate should not be conveying reality to us, but rather feed us craptaculer sensation and spin.

Does the mainstream media relate news about corporate corruption? Hell no! They are owned by corporations.........why would they expose their bosses?

Rent the movie Orwell Rolls in his Grave. You will be suitably horrified.

Only rich/big business players have the resources to represent our interests in Washington. You need so much $$$ to get elected, it is preposterous for us to even entertain the idea that politicians have any real experience with 95% of American.

1% owns the wealth. They are getting wealthier. We are getting poorer. Check out some graphs.

What is wrong with us??!!

Why is it "impolite" or "annoying" in our culture to talk about politics? IT HAS GOT TO CHANGE. We cannot afford to piss away our freedom. A good case could be made that we don't live in a democracy.......or we live in a very, very weak one. Yet we all wave our flags, and line up to meet politicians. Tickled pink that we live in America. Yet watching our democracy been bought up by the highest bidder.

WE NEED TO SNAP OUT OF IT.

Speak up. Demand more. Resigned negativity (ie yes, its screwed - but that is life) is not going to cut it anymore. It is embarrassing and ignorant.

Everyone go read "1984"............. rent "Brazil" if you still don't get it.

We have got to change things, before it is too late.

Here are some recent stories at Democracy Now!

One In Eight Iraqi Children Die Before the Age of Five

Iraq's infant mortality rate has soared by 150 percent since 1990 according to a new report by the charity Save the Children. One in eight Iraqi children now die of disease or violence before the age of five. In 2005 alone, 122,000 Iraqi children died before reaching their fifth birthday. Save the Children said Iraq's child-survival ranking is now the lowest in the world.

Chevron to Pay Fine For Paying Kickbacks to Saddam Hussein

The New York Times is reporting, the U.S. oil company Chevron is preparing to pay up to $30 million in fines for illegally paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein for access to Iraq's oil before the U.S. invasion in 2003. The penalty, which is still being negotiated, would be the largest so far in the United States in connection with investigations of companies involved in the oil-for-food scandal. It appears Chevron began paying Iraq kickbacks in August 2000. At the time Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was a member of Chevron's board and led its public policy committee, which oversaw areas of potential political concerns for the company.

Canadian Company in Talks to Buy Reuters For $18 Billion

In media news, the Canadian company Thomson Corporation is in talks to buy the British news organization Reuters for nearly $18 billion. If the deal goes through, the merger would result in the world's largest news and financial data company.


Tenet Makes $2.3 Million From Companies Profiting Off Iraq War

Investigative reporter Tim Shorrock of Salon.com has revealed that former CIA Director George Tenet has made at least $2.3 million since he left the agency by working for four corporations that are directly profiting from the so-called war on terror and the war in Iraq. Tenet did not disclose any of his corporate ties in his new book "At the Center of the Storm." Tenet sits on the board of directors of L-1 Identity Solutions, a major supplier of biometric identification software used by the U.S. to monitor terrorists and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tenet is also a member of an advisory board for Analysis Corporation which is designing terrorist watch lists for the government. Tenet also serves on the boards of two other government contractors, Guidance Software and Kinetic.

Can you believe this is happening??!!

Peace.