Sunday, November 29, 2009

Enemies , domestic and foriegn

As we race towards the close of another year it causes me to take pause and look at the world around us. While most people are preparing for the onslaught of the Christmas season their concerns primarily lay with who gets what and how much debt are they going to rack up in the process. Undoubtedly we will soon be hearing reports of how the merchants are disappointed with another slow selling cycle that they hinge so much of their future on. The concept of basing your financial security on the end of the year / holiday sales tallies has always been a strange concept to me. It is strange to me that so many merchants depend on the Christmas season for so much of their income. It seems to me that a long term strategy of slow reliable growth and security would ultimately be more beneficial than relying on the mad dash at the end of the race to win it for the year. It reminds me of the tortoise and the hare fable that use to be told to children. All to often we seem to be sleeping when we should be slowly moving forward and then think we can race to the finish and win the race. Unfortunately , like that children's precautionary tale, we learn the hard way that it is often to late to regain lost time. Life is like that in many important ways that we do not see , why because we are sleeping. I should say sleep walking because to often we move threw life only semi aware of the events going on around us.

The enemies of this country know this and exploit it at every chance they get. The ones internally eagerly help the public chant , USA - USA - we are #1, while they extend a leg out to help the country trip and fall. The ones outside the country lay in wait to eagerly swoop in and help put the final blows in to extinguish the lantern of freedom. Our nation has slowly been allowing those that would like to see us stumble get farther and farther ahead. Slowly one step at a time they trudge onward to the finish line hoping we will stay slumbering long enough for the lead to be to great for us to over come. The big question is , will this country wake up in time before it is to late. So with that being said, it's time to look around at some of the things that have been happening around us.
First we look East to the land of the rising sun and the Asiatic power house China. We use to worry about Japan and it's growing economic dominance. We should have been paying more attention to the sleeping dragon - China. We paid little attention to the every growing "Made in China" labels that were popping up on the products across the county. China is an ancient country that seeks long term dominance as a global super power. They look at our country with a combination of respect and envy at the accomplishments of the new kid on the block. The American Empire has been around a relatively short period of time. We are a mere two hundred and thirty three years old since we declared independence from Britain. More importantly we are a mere sixty five years old as a major global player after we took the world lead from Great Britain after world war two. We tend to forget these things. China, who has over a millennial under its belt as a national entity knows that nations rise and fall like tides all to well. They are preparing for the future, they have a strong financial position , over the years they have taken control of much of the shipping in the world , the US government has allowed Hutchenson-Wampoa (a company with strong ties to the Chinese government) control over the Panama canal as well as several of our own major ports. Not only do they control several of our major ports they are doing the scanning for Nuclear materials coming into our country! It's stupid to use the fox as the guard dog for the hen house! China during the Clinton administration walked off with our most sensitive nuclear secretes out of Los Alamo's and immediately started upgrading their programs and arsenal. Little by little China is preparing to challenge us at the top of the mountain for king of the hill.

Moving a little to the west we have Russia slipping back to it's communist roots and below that is India coming into it's own as a financial powerhouse. We also see the middle east , the home of the fastest growing religious base , Islam. Islam is the cousin of Christianity but has several off shoots of radical thought and violent tendencies. (not that Christianity doesn't have its share of violent off shoots) We are presently deeply embroiled in geopolitical battles in the middle east and this region will probably be where world war three starts.

Even farther westward lays Africa , another land of chaos that is often over looked and forgotten. The nations of the world look at Africa as a region to be exploited and used with little regard to it's inhabitants. North of Africa lays Europe, another sleeper powerhouse that is in the process of waking up. We are about to see Europe rise up in power to rival it's past glory as the European Union takes a firm hold on world affairs. Most people in the USA dismiss Europe as the old country that we had to go save from themselves in world war two. We to easily dismiss the fact that Europe has a long history that the USA itself sprang from. We dismiss the financial powers that have ruled from Europe and in our vanity we think we will continue on being number one, we can easily jump up and win the race. We need to wake up from our slumber before it is to late to make up lost ground.

Another childhood tale we should take stock in is the tale of the Ant and the grasshopper. The proverbial winter is about to set in, it's time to prepare now, before it's to late!

Those that wait for us to stumble are many, we do have allies in the world but even some of those seek more power for themselves. To often money is the driving force that fuels the engines of change. Nations often struggle for power as dogs fight for scraps and bones. Often these battle are orchestrated for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many (or millions). The world we live in is a volatile place and if we like it or not the power base is on the verge of shifting. The world is close to unhinging from the dollar as the reserve currency and if that happens all bets are off on what can happen next. America is the melting pot of the world and there in lays our greatest strength and hope. Hopefully we will not stumble or be tripped up so that we fall ,for if we do we don't know if the hand coming at us is there to help us up or slap us down farther.

We can learn a lot from the wisdom of childhood tales, they were given to us to teach us something we often seem to lack - common sense.

Just food for though
LascoX

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Edge public forum

It is nice to be linked to the Edge with this blog. I have to admit that when it was on the air I was a passive listener and never called in. Primarily due to the fact that I was working while I listened and it would have been hard to stop and get to the phone. I have to honestly admit that I am one of the many who still have a button on my radio tuned to the soft silent sound of static waiting for the strains of Aerosmiths "Living on the edge" to warm up my day followed by John and the rest of the Edge family discussing the hot topics of the day. I discovered the Edge four years ago after I had moved back to Montana. I took to it like a duck to water and though it was basically preaching to the choir in my case I did find myself learning a few things that I didn't know and also looking at things I did know in a different perspective. I had not heard of Alex Jones and Jeff Rense prior to listening to the Edge. I found their perspectives on world events interesting and informative , though admittedly I don't necessarily agree with everything they come up with. That is kind of the point of free speech , to bring opinions to the table and have civil discussion about the issues that affect us personally, socially , politically and on a local as well as global scale. The Edge excelled at free speech and due to that it also drew fire from others because of it. Many people don't like things that go against the grain or deviates from the "accepted norm" of what they know or believe to know. Some people like to say they support free speech , just as long as you say what they want to hear. Tell them something they don't want to hear and then suddenly they think you need to be censored. Say something like you don't believe people should be sneaking into the country illegally and they declare you to be a racist. You don't think the black panthers should be allowed outside a polling place intimidating voters and well... that just proves your a racist! It was no great surprise that with Johns occasional twisted sense of humor and sometimes uncensored opinions ,that he and KGEZ would become a lightning rod and target for attacks. It was sad to see the airwaves the Edge broadcasted on fall silent but it is good to know they are not going silent into that dark night. I'm glad to see that the Edge and Edge family is keeping hope alive because despite what it's detractors say , the Edge did a lot of good for our community. A lot of people were woke up to events going on around them that they might not have been aware of. John had always prefaced the things he said with the statement "Don't take my word for it , do your own research and decide for yourself." I heard him say it time and time again. Good advice for all things , very good advice if your listening to the corporate controlled media. As they use to say back when newspapers were the main source of the news , "Don't believe everything you read".

The Edge brought a different perspective to the table. Personally I have found the truth always ends up somewhere in the middle. That's why I listen to corporate media, the right wing perspective , the left wing perspective , the alternative media resources such as free speech TV and link TV , web sites such as Info wars and Jeff Rense's site , and listen to the opinions of others in the street. It is dangerous to look threw a narrow view finder while running threw life at the breakneck speed of modern life. The more information we have the better chance we have at making good choices to deal with the issues life throws at us.

Again , it is nice to be linked to the Edge website. The opinions in this blog are mine and mine alone. Readers don't need to agree with them , but , they are worth considering. If you don't agree with them , that's fine by me, everybody has a right to their own opinion. That's what the whole free speech thing is about after all : )
Until next time
Lasco X

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Welcome to Lasco X's Rants

This is my first blog using the google blog forum. I have blogged in the past on my facebook page but I decided to move it over to this site. I normally concentrate on one topic but since this is my first blog here I will be going over subjects all over the map on this one. So on to the rant .... or in the case of this blog, some observations on the world events going on around us.

The great global warming info (or dis-info) hack. Last week some hackers stole roughly 61 megabites of confidential files from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit. The 1079 emails and 72 documents allegedly obtained from there seem to give indications of a conspiracy/collusion to exaggerate the problem of global warming and down play the more recent trend of global cooling. Some in the Global warming camp will surely say this is a manufactured attempt at discrediting global warming. Though I personally dislike hackers and don't condone what they did, I have to say I personally find this information to be believable and considering it was suppose to be obtainable threw the British version of the freedom of information act, it was highly enlightening. It has been common knowledge for a long time that government funding for research has been skewed in favor of pro global warming at a rate of 85% pro to 15% objective ,sceptical ,natural environmental caused weather patterns. The pro global warming camp routinely glossed over the medieval warm period and the geologists perspective of natural trends of global warming and cooling. In their cries of "the ice caps are melting" they payed little attention to ancient maps that depicted the coast lines of Antarctica. Sun and other cosmic cycles have much greater bearing on the global temperatures than man. This is not to say man does not have an impact on his environment. It is foolish not to think we do not have any impact on the world around us. Mankind has been polluting this world since we first started walking on the face of it. With our ever increasing numbers we need to be aware of our impact on on this world. The problem with those bowing at the alter of global warming is that they are concentrating on CO2 and are ignoring the true toxic hazards that plague the planet. Industries spew toxins into the air and water that are far deadlier than simple CO2. In the USA we have worked hard to eliminate the needless emissions of these toxins. We have come a long way from the Ohio river catching fire in the 70's. In the emerging industrial giants such as China these safe-guards are not being pursued as well as they should be. The plans to basically sell and tax hot air do nothing to protect the environment and cripple our economy in the process. Speaking of the economy.....

What a damn mess we are in! I guess the powers that be aren't worried about hurting our industry with cap and trade policies because our industrial base has already been gutted to the core and now they are trying to destroy the seeds of industry. The only thing that will turn our economy around is manufacturing and exporting products! America can not just be a consumer/ service nation, it has to regain it's status as a manufacturing power house. This is much easier said than done. Organized labor jacked up wages so high it is hard to compete with the dirt poor wages they pay in sweat shops around the world. The corporate leaders that use to be content with earning 10 times what the floor worker earned now believes they are worth 100 to 1000 times more in a year. And what do these CEO's do when they run a company into the red, they bail out with their "Golden parachutes" and retire to their estates! Since when do people earn bonuses for running companies into the red? Maybe the next time a CEO runs a company into the ground he should be taken up in a plane and given his bonus in a backpack full of gold bullion and told if he wants it, he needs to take his "Golden Parachute" and jump out, if he wants it so bad and he truly feels he has earned it! If he doesn't want to jump then he forfeits it! Bonuses are earned by turning a profit! Not by raping the workers,share holders and consumers!
On top of corporate greed and the loss of manufacturing we are in the same over expansion of militaristic power that toppled the Roman Empire. Currently we are waging two major military campaigns that are designed to protect oil interests in the middle east while we maintain military bases in almost every counties in the world. We are not in the mid Eurasian continent to promote democracy, we are there to secure our access to the oil fields! I understand the need for this in the eyes of some people but if we had started working seriously towards alternative energy sources back in the 70's when we had the first oil crisis we would not need to be dependant on the middle east. The truly ironic thing is , The USA actually gets only a small amount of the oil we use from the Mideast. Mostly the oil is exported to our allies in Japan and Europe as well as the growing consumption in China.
The economy of the USA was decimated over the past couple of years. In reality though we have been driving up to the edge of the cliff for a long time now. It didn't take much to push it over the edge. The collapse of the dollar has been orchestrated by a few to both hide past indiscretions and to create bargain basement prices for American assets so they could be swept up and consolidated. Make no mistake about it, if you follow the money you can see the current economic troubles has been engineered to benefit the few at the expense of the many!
So with these problems facing our nation what are our leaders doing about it? Not a whole lot! The masses still buy into the Left /Right paradigm not realizing that the true power base lies with the Power Elite of the world. The Power Elite is a conglomeration of old money and some new money that has been controlling world events for a very long time. They are the true owners of this and other countries, to them we are only just sheep to be lead and cattle to be exploited! George Carlin nailed it in his rant about education and the owners of this county, look it up on you-tube sometime. Its good for a laugh as well as being an accurate statement on the state of things. I realize that not everybody in the government is in on it and there is some good and decent people in the system. It does have some bearing on matters that a large portion of our legislators are millionaires. It also has a lot to do with the apathetic nature of the electorate! The sad fact is that most people just don't care about politics and how it affects their lives. They are to wrapped up in survival , or worse Survivor , to pay attention to what is going on around them. The dangerous thing is - those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it! Last century saw the USA take over world leadership from the British Empire. Is this going to be the century the USA stumbles and lets lose of the reigns and if so what is going to happen to the fragile world balance where we have some sense of world order. The future is uncertain at best and our political leaders seem to be asleep at the wheel! At times I feel the blind are leading the one eyed!

At the end of the day all you can believe in is God and yourself. It is good to remember that God helps those that help themselves. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Things will probably get worse before they get better so be ready for a bumpy ride the next couple of years. Also , always remember the golden rule is Not "he who has the gold makes the rules!" It Is... "Treat others as you would like them to treat you" If we all lived by that the world would be a much better place to live in!
Until next time
Lasco X