Signs of life in the land of "The Edge"

I poped over to the Edge webpage to get a link to a site and what did I see but signs of life! John Stokes is coming / has come.. to the Rences Radio network broadcasting on the Web from 12:00 to 2:00 pm Monday threw Friday. I have yet to be able to tune in yet as it was Sunday night but I was glad to see the announcement that John was taking to the airwaves again.
I'm sure some are not going to be happy at this news as John has his detractors (to put it mildly), but I know the edge family will be glad to see him back in action again.
Welcome back John , I look forward to listening in whenever I can.

Our fading right to privacy

I read today that the 9th circuit court ruled that it is lawful for the authorities to sneak on your property and install a gps tracker on your car without a warrant. That notion is being challenged over on the east side of the country so the issue will likely end up in the supreme court but it certainly is a sign of the times. We live in an age of unwarranted wiretaps, sneak and peek searches and implanted surveillance devices such as cameras and microphones in computers that can be accessed remotely. Satellite imagery is refined and programs like google earth has been reported as monitoring wireless computer networks. There is a push to move to cloud computing systems - basically your information will be stored on servers off in cyberspace and not on your own computer. Programs like this and other programs like "Go to my PC" and the countless backup programs that store your PC's data off at remote , supposedly "secure" sites are becoming common place and accepted by a naive and unsuspecting public. The public at large does not see the implications of what is going on around them. The notion of "If your not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about" is being spread across society. But what about the right to think freely, going across the grain and norm. What about the right not to conform to group think and to think for ones self! The infringements into personal privacy will one day hobble society to the point where people will no longer think freely, great concepts will not be pursued as society will push people into conforming with the "norm". Freedom of privacy should not be a luxury item afforded only to the rich of society. Our constitution guarantees our right to reasonable privacy in our own homes and persons. It is not something we should give up willingly or lightly but so many are willing to do just that! "Those who give up liberty for security deserve neither liberty or security" - Ben Franklin. Our liberties are being attacked with greater and greater attacks, the hand writing is on the wall! To bad people seem to stupid or lazy to read the warnings these days. To put it another way, the frogs in the pot aren't bobbing trying to swim! they are already dead in the water moving because the water is boiling!
Just food for thought on a sunny day
Until next time
Lasco X

Borrowed money , borrowed time

I read two articles on Drudge today about how the USA is basically bankrupt and doesn't realize it. I also read and article yesterday talking about a former Regan staffer talking about how republican policies over the past 40 years have lead us to financial ruin (he included the Democrats as part of the problem as well). I read another article on how the restructuring of the housing / home loan sector will probably be changing where it will be harder to purchase a home in the future. None of these articles really came as any great surprise to me but did resonate with me that big changes are heading our way very soon. The world is teetering on the edge of a great depression and financial collapse that is going to shake the foundations of society as we know it. It's not going to be the end of life as we literally know it but it will radically reshape the world.
The things we are probably going to see happening in the near future are the result of decades worth of assault on American society. Some has been set in motion by design and others have just been pushed along by society at large as we willingly take the road that is wide and well traveled. What can we look for happening very soon? #1 - Higher taxes ! - Expect to pay more in taxes to pay down the national debt. It is stupid to think that we can keep borrowing more and more money from the rest of the world without having to pay the bill at some point along the road. Ever since Nixon detached us from the gold standard and paved the way for printing our way into deeper and deeper debt we have been digging a deeper and deeper hole. Common sense tells you if you find yourself in a hole you need to stop digging down and start digging in a manner to work yourself up and out. Yes the hole will get wider but it will start to fill in and you will get to a point you can get out and fill in the massive gap you have created. To think we can get out of debt without paying more taxes is naive. The USA needs to get spending under control , give tax breaks for job creation in the private sector , bring production jobs back to America and yes , pay a little more taxes to get out of this mess. The Bible tells us the Borrower is the slave to the lender. Americans don't need to be slaves to anyone, we need to pull ourselves out of this mess we have helped create by living beyond our means threw credit cards and borrowing from foreign entities to run our country. #2 - Expect it to be harder to own your own home - Giving unsecured home loans to anyone so that the lender can sell bad loans off to someone else has to stop! It should have never been allowed to happen in the first place. When you have companies giving N.I.N.J.A. loans (No Income , No Job , No Assets) to people to buy houses there is bound to be trouble. Banks and Mortgage companies were loaning people money and flipping the loans to Fannie and Freddy and Wall street knowing they would probably default because they were loaning more money then the people could realistically afford to pay back! Personally I think banks and mortgage company's need to be required to hold on to the loans for at least 3-5 years before they can flip the loan to someone else. It would make the lenders hold responsibility and insure they were not doing bad loans to begin with. Don't expect the US government to keep backing bad loans! The downside of this is going to be the government is now going to start subsidising more rental incomes , another bad decision but one that will probably happen! It will put more people under the government thumb as they rely on Uncle Sam to take care of them! This isn't good and counter productive to the recovery as a whole. #3 - Social Security will probably fail! - Don't count on seeing your social security, the hand writing is on the wall and has been there for a very long time. It is prudent to plan for the worst and hope for the best in the long run. The boomers are about to overwhelm the system and the government has known this for quite sometime. The best thing you can do to try and insure retirement is try to own your own home and plan to live a modest life. Even this can be wiped out all to easy with an illness that puts your medical bills threw the roof. The safety net is soon going to be filled with many bodies and will stop giving the protection it one had! Don't think Social Security will help you to fulfill all your needs in the future, if you do you are going to be disappointed! #4 - Expect a massive shake up in the world financial structure and a leveling of many currencies. This is in the process of being engineered for a long time now. Strong currencies will weaken , weak currencies will gain ground and the process isn't going to be pretty. Food is your friend when this happens so stock up now and don't expect the store to always be there. If you only relied on the nearest store for your weekly supply of food what will you do if the shelves run dry due to a massive disruption in the distribution network. If shipping pauses while currencies are balanced and finances are straightened out what will you eat? Don't expect the government to feed your family when things go south and disasters strike. Be prepared to help your family and if you can your neighbors. We the people have more strength then the government if we chose to exercise it. United we stand , divided we fall, and if we fall, we fall into chaos and misery.
#5 - Expect false profits ,saviors , attacks on faith and beliefs. Expect people to push God away from people and at the same time exploit religion even more then they do now. Society and sound values have been under attack for a very long time. These attacks are going to get more intense as God and faith are driven from us and exploited! Remember - the Golden rule is "Treat others as you would like to be treated!" ....NOT!... "He who has the gold rules."
Until next time
Lasco X

WTF, get the rubber boots , it's getting deep.

In my last rant I applauded Arizona for actually having the guts to do something about illegal immigration. Now we have a district judge basically gutting the intent of the bill. What was the intent... to protect the citizens of Arizona by enforcing existing federal law statutes. What the hell!?!? So let me get this straight... Arizona police are now not allowed to ask for immigration papers, even though federal law requires immigrants to carry them? Police in Arizona can't determine if a person is in the country illegally and enforce US law? I'm sorry .. but what the hell is with that? This is ridicules at best and criminal at worst! We also have word of the Obama administration talking about doing back door amnesty for illegals circumventing the legislative process. I guess the fact that most Americans are tired of the federal government doing nothing on the illegal immigration issue doesn't matter. I guess the people in power are thinking .. Hey , we will do something! We will appease the illegals and pick up a few more votes for us in the elections and to hell with the people who are here legally and are actual citizens. What kind of twisted nightmare scenario are we living in? So.. hows that hope and change thing going for you about now America? Unemployment is leveling off on job losses but are the jobs coming back? The ones that are appearing are with downgraded pay. (Don't worry, you don't need to make as much as you use to... after all you don't want that job at that wage and we have plenty of illegals..err.. future amnesty entitled citizens that will take that job just waiting in the pipeline. Don't you know illegals are just doing the jobs that Americans don't want to do! You really didn't want that decent paying job you use to have did you??) So much for the federal government doing their job, I guess what else is new. Maybe we can take all the red tape coming out of Washington D.C. and use it to build the border fence we were promised a few years ago!

What else do we have going on hmmm? Well it was recently reported the the SEC (Securities exchange commission) is not subject to the freedom of information act.This means that the shady dealings on Wallstreet and the lack of oversight by the SEC will never see the light of day. If you thought what happened in the past was bad just wait until next year since they no longer have to worry about things being brought to light. Weren't we promised the most transparent government ever by Obama and the likes of Nancy Palosi? Strangely enough , things just seem to be getting more and more opaque. Also in the recent legislation the Federal Reserve was given even more power. Here we have an agency that also is above scrutiny that is veiled from public view. It seems more and more power is being drawn into the shadows and consolidated away from the public. That isn't a good sign!

They finally capped the oil spill and so far it is holding. At least we have some good news though it will probably be bad for domestic oil production. I am all for promoting renewable resources, we should have been doing it since the 70's when the first big push for it started, but, we are still living in the oil age! We need to promote more domestic oil production. I have never seen an oil spill that big on land so maybe it is time we reconsider opening up drilling in Alaska and other parts of the lower 48 states. Also, make sure the protections that are suppose to be in place on the ocean rigs are actually on and operating on the ocean rigs. We need to make sure the skimmers are ready to go like they were suppose to be instead of having to scramble for them to contain the spill. Hopefully we will learn from these mistakes of the past few months. Unfortunately the human race is a greedy forgetful lot at times so I don't know what will actually happen. I hate to say that, but it does ring true much of the time. More often then not ,the masses chose to forget the past and are doomed to repeat it.

Also recently reported is that China is now officially the second largest economy as they have overtaken Japan. Never mind that the average yearly wage in China is only 4000$ a year or less. As marketers like Wallmart will tell you "It's all about volume". China in context is still a developing country with much of it's 1,330,141,295 population living in what would be considered backwards living standards. This is changing though as its urbanization comprised 43% of the country's population. China is still a rising power in the world scene. With a average age of 35 years old and a life expectancy of 75 years China is hitting a strong stride going into the new millennium.

Such a Rosy world we live in these days. The world is being pushed towards a common currency in the hopes of further power consolidation. This is being done by old strategies of Divide and conquer and From chaos comes order. One has to wonder at times how much is planned and how much just happens. It reminds me of the lyrics of the old Temptations song "Ball of confusion" - "run run run but you sure can't hide" The future is coming at us fast and what do we have ...we have idiots protesting Lindsy Lohan being jailed "unfairly"(their words not mine)for not complying with the court system rulings. I'm sorry she has to spend maybe 15% of her 90 day sentence but the people protesting this will be the first lemmings over the cliff as the world goes to hell. Hey! Natural selection does have some advantages! The smart and strong survive better then the ignorant and stupid do!

Oh well, keep your eyes open, your hearts in the right place and pantry stocked. The darkest before the dawn is still yet to come.

Until next time
Lasco X

Good for Arizona!

I for one am glad to see Arizona enact their new legislation regarding illegal aliens. It's about time someone did something to crack down on the problem instead of just giving it lip service. The new Arizona law basically just supports law enforcement doing the job they are suppose to be doing under existing federal guidelines and yet we see the administration calling the legislation misguided and racist. This coming from people who didn't even take the time to read the 12 pages of legislation that made up the bill! As the governor of Arizona was quoted as saying "If the federal government would do their job regarding these matters we would not have to enact this legislation (I am paraphrasing the comments, but that was the basic content of it)". She was right! The federal government has been AWOL on this issue for a long time! They have put band aids on issues that require stitches! They have put corks in issues that require turning off large valves and building dams! They have simply not done enough and continue to stall efforts at fixing the problem.

When we read reports that drug cartels are maintaining lookout posts in the Arizona mountains to help facilitate drug and human trafficking we have serious problems! When Arizona and the other border states are having the Mexican drug cartels infiltrate and operate out of their areas , we have a major problem! It's about time someone did something about the issue! Now we have groups calling for boycotts of Arizona because they dared to do something about the issue. How dare Arizona try and combat an ongoing problem that the federal government does little to resolve. People who don't even read the bill are jumping on it claiming it's racist and discriminatory. Perhaps if we didn't have millions of illegals in the country disregarding our laws then it wouldn't be an issue. The Mexican president came out against the law saying it was unjust but his country is much harder on illegals then ours! Personally , on an emotional level I have to say , Fuck him and the horse he rode in on ! Who is he to accuse Arizona of injustice when his own country is harder on people who enter his country illegally! I think we should hold the Mexicans entering this county illegally to the same standards they use in their own country! Just because Mexico is so corrupt that they can't generate decent jobs for their citizens and relied on dollars sent from our country isn't an excuse for him to enact a double standard regarding immigration!

What do we get from our own administration? Basically we get more bullshit pushing for amnesty instead of enforcement. We get the US Attorney General talking shit about Arizona without even taking time to read a measly 12 pages of legislation before commenting on it! The folks in Washington will ram threw over 2000 pages of a health care bill that is going to possibly increase health care costs tremendously without reading it so why bother reading 12 pages of well crafted , thought out legislation! This is bullshit on a major scale! What happened to the fence we were promised? That seems to be a dead issue now. Why can't we have reasonable enforcement of existing immigration polices that are already on the books? Arizona should not have had to write a law basically saying it is OK and required for the police to enforce the laws that are on the books!

I say good for the legislators of Arizona for addressing an ongoing issue that plagues our country! I fully support the people of Arizona in their struggle to bring some order out of the chaos caused by the illegal flow of drugs and people into our country. To the detractors of the legislation that Arizona had to enact I say piss off! It's not racist to want existing laws enforced. Just because millions of Mexicans decide to ignore U.S. law doesn't mean they have a right to. If you were caught as in illegal in Mexico you would be fined, jailed , and then deported! So why do you think Mexicans and OTM's have a right to come here and ignore the laws of the United States?

I don't have a problem with anyone who immigrates to this country legally. We are a nation built on immigrants. I believe in the concept of the melting pot but we don't need the continued flood of illegals across our southern border. We don't need politicians who try to please illegals in hopes of securing future votes. We need more actions like we have seen by the legislators of Arizona! We need to enforce existing laws rather then enacting new ones. The only law I would personally like to see changed is the anchor baby provision where illegals can come up here, give birth and then suck off the welfare system because their child is automatically a US citizens. This is a law that is abused big time!

You see a lot of celebrities crying for boycotts but they often jump into issues to sell their product and to look PC. Are these same celebrities looking at all sides of the issue or are they just pushing a liberal agenda regardless of facts. I can understand and appreciate the concern for civil rights violations. I'm big on civil rights, but where is the liberal outrage over issues like the Bill of Rights being dismantled by the Patriot act and the Military commissions act now that Obama is in office? He has the ability to undo this misstep but has he? No he hasn't! How about unwarranted wiretaps? He hasn't done anything about that either! Why is everyone who supports tougher border enforcement branded a racist regardless if they are or not? It's sad and comical that the left wingers drop all regard for much of the same issues they cried about when Bush was in office but it's fine when Obama follows the same policies and does nothing to correct the situation. In many ways those issues are now getting worse because they are getting more entrenched and accepted. Where is the liberal outrage over those issues... Oh yeah , that's right... it's now directed to the Arizona issue and they have seemed to forget about the civil rights issues that affect every single person in this country! It's amazing how short the liberal attention span is at times! It's OK for the case against the Black Panthers who did voter intimidation to be thrown out but if it had been people in white sheets and pointy dunce hats doing it the issue would not have been dropped would it!? Personally, I won't be boycotting Arizona! If the state of California (Who is being crushed with financial burden from illegals) wants to , that's fine. If celebrities want to support a boycott.. that's their right! Just don't call me a racist just because I support secure borders, legal immigration and sound immigration policies! I consider myself a child of the dream, I judge people by the quality of their character, not the color of their skin. I don't believe in pigeon holing people into categories! Why is it that the supposed open minded liberals are so quick to categorize others who might disagree with their opinion?

I miss the Edge radio

Since the Edge radio program went silent I have been reduced to listening to the talk radio programs on 880. It has reinforced my convictions that I miss the Edge and the alternative programs it broadcasted. I have always looked at a multitude of sorces of information to get a picture of what is going on in the world. The programing on 880 is the Fox feed of Limbauh , Hanity, Laura and Beck. They also carry voices of Montana which is one of the better offerings they broadcast. The formentioned programs on the Fox feed definatly have a right wing/conservative/ neo conservative slant. Though I agree with some of the view points they put out I realize they are primarily driven with the intention of putting the republicans back in power. Not everything in the world is Obamas fault as they would have you belive. I'm no Obama fan but it is important to realize the Republicrates have been walking lockstep together , slowly stripping away our freedoms and liberities for years. This is not a left verses right issue, it's a slow errosion of liberties that is being orcistrated by the few at the top of the finacial food chain to insure power over the many by the few. Those right wing pundants are just as guilty of pushing this country towards restricted freedoms as the left wing people we have in power currently in Washinton and that have a death grip on the mass media. The concept of divide and conqure is blatant in the broadcasts from the left and the right. Where is the middle ground represented? Why must everything be black and white when the many shades of grey represent the majority so much better then the hard views put forth for mass consumption. I sometimes wonder why liberals call into a program like Hannity when all he does is the equivalent on putting his hands over his ears and yelling "na, na, na, na , na, na , na , I'm not listening" and then cut them off as he has rudely been talking over them trying to make a point. Don't they realise they are only being allowed on the air to provide liberal fodder for him to shoot like fish in a barrel. Hannity doesnt want discussion, he wants to tell you what to think. The man is basically a right wing shill! The left is no better! Where is the middle ground represented? At least on Johns old program he would let a desenting oppinion be voiced if put forth in an inteligent manner so a legitamate discussion could be had. That's one of the reasons I miss the edge! I also liked the alternative programs that it offered, though, one needed to take those with a grain of salt as well. Like all media you need to look from all sides to get to the heart of the matter. Just because something goes against the grain doesnt mean it's incorrect and just because it fits your current mind set doesnt mean it shouldnt be concidered. It pays to keep an open mind and heart in matters. I appreachiated Johns attitude of "don't take my word about it , do your own research and decide for yourself." The edge gave the Flathead valley a good public forum to discuse the issues around us. I miss that! Besides , I found it to be entertaining radio. It saddens me to flip the button to the sound of static at 600am. I still miss the edge and what it had to offer the valley.
Until next time
Lasco X

Post note: 6-30-10
I went to the Edge website today only to find it was not there. Not a good sign! I hope all is well with John and Pam.

Back again

So it's been a while since my last rant. That's a good thing concidering it's because I have been busy working. I basically had to create my own job by going independant contractor and workmens compensation exempt. So now I'm doing the same thing, working for one of my old contacts but now I get no future unemployment benifits, no coverage from workmens compensation insurance and will be laid off as soon as the current job runs it's course. On the positive side of things I'm self employed and money is coming in from private sorces rather then sucking on the government tit of unemployment insurance. Actually, I'm glad I have unemployment insurance to fall back on when this job runs out and I won't next year, but it is nice to be working again. In this economy, you do what you have to if you want to eat and pay bills.
Since my last rant the Democrates rammed threw health care reform and have their sites now set on immigration reform. How much details are they going to hid from the public and how many bribes to congressmen to get that passed is anyones guess. Concidering the hidden costs and outright millions that were given in pork to get votes on the health care reform we can see how the immigration reform will be played out. This coming from the most "Transparent" congress and administration in years. I hope some comman sense plays out with this issue , but realistically it might not if they ram it threw.
Europes economy is in near crisis mode as Greece's default on thier debt is shaking the Euro. The reprocussions will shake the world economy and the crys for a new world currancy will be again coming up. The problems across the pond are going to show up over here as well and pose a serious threat to the fragile economic recovery in the USA. How serious a threat remains to be seen but as Rahm recently said "It's a shame to let any crisis go to waste.
Bottom line is the elite of the world still play thier games as the rest of us hang on and try to survive. Sooner or later the let them eat cake will come back to haunt them as the masses revolt. The real question is how much crap the masses are ready to consume before they have had enough.
Well with the chaos of grandkids visiting I'm logging out,Keep hanging on out there.
Untill next time
Lasco X

Immigration

The topic of Illegal Immigration is surfacing again, as it should since it is an on going issue. Again the issues of amnesty and biometric Id's are popping up. I am against wholesale amnesty plans as they do nothing to solve the issues and open the door for a flood of legal immigration that throws things out of balance. If they do issue some sort of amnesty program I think the family links for legal immigration should be curbed with restrictions. If someone slipped into this country illegally I don't think they should be handed all the benefits of someone who did it legally. The country simply can't afford the flood of immigrants that could come in without some restrictions put on the number of those being considered for amnesty. Frost Wooldridge has written several very good articles on the subject of immigration and brings up a lot of very sound issues that unbridled immigration will have on our nation if we allow it.

I use to resent illegal immigrants a lot. I'm a construction worker and have seen first hand the impact they have had on the industry. I watched as the Texas builders brought the illegal work force to Georgia around 1985 after the Texas building bust happened. When I got to Georgia in 1982 , blacks (or insert what ever PC name you want to call them / I consider them Americans with African heritage instead of African Americans) were doing most of the drywall hanging and masonry / concrete work. Whites were doing much of the framing / trim / drywall finishing / trades. Very quickly though both groups were pushed out of drywall / framing / concrete/ masonry / trim and the trades were being impacted heavily. These were not jobs that Americans didn't want to do. They were jobs Americans could not afford to do for 1/3 or 1/2 the wages they had been getting paid to do. Contractors , primarily the big ones loved getting twice the man power for less money then they had paid previously. Framing and other labor prices basically froze at the rates paid in 1987 as the cost of living crept ever upward. The work was now being done by largely unskilled or poorly skilled people who knew nothing about what Slump Factors or PSI ratios meant in concrete work. (They are the factors that give concrete it's strength and structural integrity) Much of them didn't even speak the language and couldn't comprehend when you tried to explain why you can't just massively water down a load of cement to make it easier to work with! The people brokering these workers didn't spend the time to properly train the workers. Instead they just hired people and threw them at the work. I competed against the flood of cheep labor and eventually took a job supervising them in mass to try and get some semblance of quality out of the work force. I remember one day walking in on a Mexican painter who was rolling paint on walls over fresh carpet with no drop cloth. I told him three times to go get a drop cloth to protect the carpet. He just acted like he didn't understand English and kept rolling. Finally, pissed off I told him "If you don't go get a drop cloth right now I will hit you with the biggest back charge you have ever seen! I will replace the whole houses carpet and your going to pay for it!" Praise Jesus! A miracle happened and he suddenly understood English! He went to his truck and got a drop cloth. I'm sure the next house he did he just went back to doing it wrong though. A lot of the work force just didn't care and when your making pennies for doing what the work is worth why should they?

I remember sitting in a bar with one of my co-workers and I was bitching about all the illegals flooding the market. He looked at me an said "I know what your talking about, but consider this. If we were in their shoes, as hard we work and as motivated as we are, we would be the first ones across the border!" It stunned me a little as he was absolutely right. Here I was sitting in a state 2400 miles from home where I had moved to get a better life and a decent job. Montana at the time was stagnating and job opportunities were few and far between. My friend was there from Chicago for the same reason. I had seen the waves of immigration into the area from all parts of the USA. There was the Ohio wave , the Chicago wave , the New York wave , the Texas wave and many more mini waves into the area from all over the country. I understood the need and desire to pick up stakes and go where the work and the money was to make a better life. After that I didn't blame the workers, I blamed the greedy people who owned the companies that hired the illegals.

I remember the day I heard on the news that the number of people who immigrated into the Atlanta area now out numbered the natural population that was from Atlanta. It was a sad day, even though I was part of the invading number. Part of Atlanta southern culture died that day and it was sad to see it go that way. If we aren't careful , our country could see the same fate and that would be a tragedy. I got to know many of the Mexicans and OTM's that I worked with. I was talking with my laborer once and he told me he didn't immigrate here just for the money. (He was one of the few legal ones by the way) He had come here for a better life. He told me in Mexico you couldn't trust the government , the police , or the banks. Corruption was rampant down there and there was little hope in changing it. Honest people were mowed over and it was a struggle to survive. A few years later when my aunt asked me the question - did I think it would be a bad thing if we did do away with the border I related to her what had been told to me from my laborer and told her Yes, it would be a very bad thing! I can sympathise with the immigrants but the melting pot needs time to work to unified the cultures. It can't do that when it is being overwhelmed by a dominant influence from a single region. There needs to be a controlled balance to promote good immigration into the country. I'm not opposed to immigration, we are a nation of immigrants and our diversity is part of our strength. Immigration just needs to be balanced. The first step would be to enforce the laws on the books rather then write a whole new set of laws. Any good plumber will tell you , stop the water from pouring in before you try and fix the problem. If need be pump some of the water out but you need to stop the water before you can truly fix the leak and repair the water damage. Any time they talk amnesty we seem to get an influx of people coming in to capitalize on it. That's not a good thing.

We have a lot of problems in the USA, immigration is just one of them. The slow down in the economy has been our best deterant to illegal imigration. I guess thats the thin silver lining to our economic troubles. Let's just hope the Democrates don't try and ram threw amnisty like they are trying to do with health care. (Someone tell me how to pay for health insurance when I don't have a damn job and lost my health insurance because of being laid off?!) Anyway...... The debate is about to rage on as imigration rears it's head again. Let's just hope wisdom gets the upper hand as the subject is delt with.

Until next time
Lasco X

I was reading articles on the Drudge report about the economy. Things are looking worse as the recovery we are hoping for seems to be stalled. It is not terribly surprising that the recovery is stalled. Construction and real estate pulled us out of the last recession. With falling house prices don't expect construction to save us from the slide this time. We have off shored so much manufacturing that we have limited goods to export. The export of goods is the only real way we can lower the trade deficits that routinely plague our nation. One of our biggest exports is weapons of war that can destabilise the world even farther. That doesn't do us much good in the long run. We are heading toward another wave of record foreclosure rates in the coming months as adjustable rate mortgages move upward again. All in all , very little has been done to prevent a repeat of the events of two years ago when the "Troubled asset relief program Or T.A.R.P." was enacted. As one of the commentators noted back then... "Isn't a tarp you use to cover something up?" Things didn't go away, they were just shoved out of site for a little while.

The economic troubles are not confined to the USA. Europe is having their own issues as the Euro faces it's first real challenge. Greece is the immediate cause of the issues in Europe but it is more of a symptom then the heart of the issue. The next few months in Europe should be interesting as they realign the power bases in the old world. Something I found interesting in the stories from Europe is the names Goldman-Sachs and George Soros came up. These are major players in the economic landscape and the fact that they are being linked to the issues going on in Europe doesn't bode well for the world. Personally, I think it should be illegal to bet on an economic downturn when you stand to profit from it and are in a position to make it happen.

We are seeing renewed calls for a new world currency to take the place of the dollar. The latest are coming from the IMF(International Monetary Fund). This doesnt bode well for the US economy if the world does unhinge from the greenback. On top of that we have major players in the PLA (Peoples liberation army)over in China saying that they need to use their economic might to deal with the USA. It is increasingly obvious that our debt that China holds is going to be used against us in the near future. The world is difinatly still in troubled waters economically right now.

I have faith in the American people and thier ability to innovate and create. We are definatly going to need to dig deep this next year. We collectively need to sacrafice and stop digging ourselves into a deeper hole. The people at the top of the economic food chain also need to stop being so damn greedy. The American people do not need to be bailing out millionairs when people are losing thier houses in record numbers. If the people who control the real wealth keep having the "Let them eat cake" attitude they will not be happy with the out come. People can only take so much and after a while you have nothing left to lose. In the mean time we push on and try to stay ahead, surviving the best we can.

I hope everyone is keeping thier heads above the water line.
Until Next time
Lasco X

How is that hope and Change thing?

So how is that hope and change thing working out for you? Let's see what change we have going on around us. The global warming train has almost been completely derailed after the supposed consensus has fallen apart following the computer hack of the Emails reveling a systematic cheating of the data. The reports of the Himalayan glacier melts were also exposed to be faulty , hell , lets just call it what it was , it was made up! The faults in the data was known prior to the huge Copenhagen summit but the UN pushed ahead with it anyway. The man who helped cover up the data in the Email scandal even finally had to admit that there has been no global warming since 1995 and that it was warmer during the medieval period then in the recent past. Score one for reason over hysteria as the Global Warming camp goes back to the drawing board to figure a way to convince all of us that lying to obtain the desired goal they want is in our best interests.

Next, we have a change in the war strategy. As we scale down Iraq we are intensifying in Afghanistan. Honestly, we should have concentrated our efforts in finishing the job there before they went blazing into Iraq. We had the opportunity to go after Bin Laden and his cohorts right after 9-11 but the Bush administration was set on leap frogging into Iraq. We also have the rumblings of expanding the war effort into Iran to curb the nuclear program there. It pisses me off that Halburton is reported to have sold centrifuges to Iran that were capable of enriching uranium back in the late 90's. I guess that's one way to ensure job security for the military industrial complex. I don't want to sound like I'm soft on National defence, I'm not! I just believe that we shouldn't make problems for ourselves down the road so that a few can profit from the misery of others.

The economy is changing, we continue to get a weaker dollar as out of control spending on pork projects continues to eat away at our children's future. Let's be honest though, it's going to affect us sooner than passing it on to our kids, we will see it's effects just around the corner if we don't correct the problems now. We have Nancy Pelosi flying around on military flights costing us millions in tax payer dollars. Oh yes, we are also apparently paying for a well stocked bar on those flights as well. Isn't Pelosi a millionaire in her own right? HEY NANCY! BUY YOUR OWN DAMN PLANE AND FLY ON YOUR OWN DIME YOU SELFISH BITCH! Sorry, but I'm scraping to get by. My tax dollars don't need to pay for her to fly around the country and world drinking and living it up in the guise of representing the people!

The political landscape is about to change. The Republicans are poised to regain several seats in the upcoming elections. I don't know if this will be a good thing or not or just more business as usual political shell game. We will have to see what happens and who runs for the seats.

Do we have hope? We have some. More people are waking up every day. More people are getting pissed off at politicians padding their pockets and helping the special interests that own them. Hopefully this will translate to a more informed voter base in the next election. Will it, I really don't know. I hope so. With that being said I guess I'll wrap up this rant by just saying that I hope everyone is doing OK out there. It's tough out there but it's times like these that tests people characters.

Have a good one, until next time
LascoX

Americas lost kids

My step daughter does foster care over in Washington state. It's something she has been doing for almost two years now so I have been able to get a glimpse of the system. In all honesty , the kids that land in her care are lucky. They have a safe loving home to live in and she actually cares , and likes kids. I don't think that is the case for all foster parents. To some, the kids are just a means to earn an income and that is the basis of why they do it. Like everything else, there is good and bad foster parents. Just as there are good and bad social workers. The most critical component in the mix is that there are good and bad parents that unfortunately sometimes find their kids taken by the state. The reasons kids are taken by the government varies but the most common reasons seem to be abuse - either physical or extreme mental, and neglect - where kids are not being cared for , protected and fed.

It's a sad state of affairs and I think taking someones kids should only be done as a last resort. The thing that has amazed me while looking at the process from the small micro sample that is my step-daughters experience is how little some of the parent do to correct the situation so that they can get their kids back. I find this astounding that they wouldn't do what ever it took to get their kids back into their care! The things the state is asking is not unreasonable. How hard is it to pass a drug test for 2-3 months in a row. The state will even pay for rehab but many of these people would rather do drugs then have their kids! Two kids she had ,one parent gave up his rights and the mother kept testing positive for marijuana - a substance that is non narcotic (meaning not physically addictive). How damned hard is it to stop getting high for three months to get the most precious thing in your life back! The state offers these parents treatment and counseling, paid public transportation, in many cases housing assistance. Some of the parents don't even bother to visit the kids! Some just treat it like sending the kid off to camp or a nanny service... Hey let them raise the kid , I can party!

I'm sorry , but what the fuck are they thinking????? If I had kids , and for some reason the state took them I would do whatever it took to get them back as quickly as possible. I just don't understand the mentality of some of the parents. One woman who had her kids taken had three kids in the system and was cranking out another one a year after the state had seized her last infant. Her kids were being born with drugs and alcohol in their systems causing health issues that were going to affect them their whole lives. The woman was in her early twenties , unemployed and having the state pay for all her medical and living expenses. I don't advocate forced birth control by any means, but sometimes you have to shake your head and wonder where you draw the line. Because of irresponsible parents the state of Washington has got to be spending millions of tax dollars on medical and care for the kids who's parents just don't give a shit! The biggest victims of this travesty is the kids, who's parents claim to love them even though they can't seem to get their heads extracted from their asses long enough to see the reality of the situation they are creating.

If you ever listen to the Alex Jones show you hear him go on about the pedophiles that infiltrate the foster system and that the state is out to seize your kids for whatever reason they can. I don't know about that, but I know that the ones in my step daughters home at least are loved , fed , and safe from abuse. I know the main reason the parents have not got them back is because the parents have failed to pull their act together. The state is not holding a pipe to the parents mouth or making them stay with a violent boyfriend. I see good kids , put in bad situations by their own parents who are to self centered to do whats right and sacrifice for the kids sake. I see people willing to let the state raise their kids so they can party and drink and do drugs. The scary thing is the problem is increasing. Many of these people dumping the kids into the system were foster kids themselves. This is a cycle that need to be broke! In the movie "Idiocracy" - the premise was that the stupid people bred at a fast rate while the smart responsible people bred slowly threw family planning. After time the world was populated by nothing but ignoramuses because the stupid people overtook the smart people with sheer numbers. The family structure has been under attack for a long time, so long that it is now imploding at a greater and greater rate. It's something we need to figure out how to stop.

The only real solution is for people to take better responsibility for their own actions. We have a moral crisis in this country and in the world actually. It's time for the men of this world to man up and be the dads the kids need. It's time for the women of the world to be the mothers the kids need them to be. What happened to parental instinct that so many seem to lack these days? I believe there are more good people in the world then bad by far, but will it stay that way if we don't find our way back to a course guided by a sound moral compass. I'm sure that there is cases where parents are having a hard time getting there kids back from social services when they should by all rights have them. From what I have seen though, the state really doesn't want to raise your kids for you. They expect the parents to do that. Taking a kid from a home should be a last resort, but if a child is being abused, starved or neglected to a detramental level or just abandoned, somebody has to do something about the situation for the sake of the child.

Until Next Time
LascoX

The State of the Republic

I just got done watching Ron Paul's , The State of the Republic address. It is posted on you-tube in 3 parts and is currently linked to at the "info wars" web site. Once again Ron Paul cuts threw the rhetoric and calls it like it is. Unfortunately , like the proverbial voice in the wilderness , not enough people are listening to the words. This is a video post I strongly urge everybody to watch, it takes about 20 minutes and has more honest assessment of the current state of the Republic then anything you will be hearing from the Democrats or the Republicans in the upcoming State of the Union address and its rebuttal by the Republicans.

There are many people hoping that Ron Paul will do another Presidential run in the 2012 election. I'm one of those people. I voted for him the last time around and will defiantly support him if he chooses to run again. In the past election he was the one cutting threw the standard rhetoric and bringing some of the real issues to the table. I'm sure that the mainstream media will start smearing Ron Paul early on and portraying him as a nut job. In the past election they virtually ignored him and tried their best to minimise his presence in the election process. It was a grass roots effort that kept up his momentum that carried him as far as he went. I know that alot of the base he built up in the election is still there, ready for him to make another run. I just hope he will!

Early signs from what we might see from the Republicans are low rumblings of the possibility Sara Palin or Scott Brown. Do either of these people have anymore experience than Obama? Can you really see Sara Palin , someone who didn't even finish her term as governor as president. Scott Brown might be good for a few soundbites , but does he have the long record of the likes of Ron Paul? Ron Paul has been holding to his beliefs for decades and has actively worked to return us to a constitutionally based government. His main problem is that he tells the people what they need to hear , not what they want to hear! Do we need another person like Obama , who promised us bipartisan solutions and transparency of government only to turn around and give us more closed door , backroom , bribe filled politics? Look at the handouts given to legislators to support health care reform. Look at the one sided push on health care reform. Look at the sealing of Obama records, if he isn't hiding something then why are his school records sealed and so much debate about his birth place! This is transparency? I respect the office of the president, I know Obama has a difficult job,the hardest job in the world in fact. My main gripe is that he , like so many politicians will say what it takes to be elected and then do the exact opposite of what they promised to do. Where is the liberal outrage about the violation and stripping away of civil liberates now that Obama and the Democrats are in control. They talked a good game when they were trying to get power and now that they are there the liberties keep slipping away.

America needs someone who will say what they mean and mean what they say. We are racing towards an economic calamity that will dwarf the great depression and I fear the momentum in that direction can't be stopped. The housing/mortgage crisis is far from resolved. The national debt keeps piling up threatening to come crashing down on top of us. More and more money is being spent on military actions in the middle east for a war on terror that has no end in sight. The jobs that have been lost in recent years show little signs of returning soon as many were construction related and many more have been shipped overseas. When and if they do, the jobs will pay significantly less then before as the global financial system will dictate pay scales. The financial consolidation that we have seen just in the past few years will continue putting wealth into fewer and fewer hands stripping the power from the middle class and putting more into the hands of a financial oligarchy.

To often people are not willing to objectively look at the world around them. To often we act like ostriches and put our heads in the sand and pretend things just don't exist. America is going to need to have to stand strong and dig deep in the coming years as our issues come to a head. The "Me" generation is going to have to return to the values of the "We the People" generation if we are going to survive the on coming storm that is approaching. To do that, we need sound leadership not sound bites and lofty illusions and dreams. The next few years will be a critical chapter in American history. I just hope we are up to the challenge.

Until next time
Lasco X

The storm on the horizon

On the great plains, or at the ocean , where you can see the horizon in the distance this term has much more meaning. From miles away you can see the storm clouds building and slowly move in your direction. You get to watch it build or decrease in intensity from a safe distance and you have time to prepare for the on coming storm. Currently I live in mountain county and the horizon is the tops of the nearest mountains. This means that the approaching storm can sneak up on you and come over the mountain before you have time to prepare. Such is the analogy for this chapter/ blog because there is a storm on the horizon and those that choose to get the mountains that obstruct their view out of the way can see it on the horizon approaching us fast.

Many people do not look at world events going on around us. They look at a few of the major headlines like the chaos in Haiti and the limited reports on the current military actions we are engaged in and that is about the extent of their interest. Some do not even pay attention to those type of highlights from the main stream media. If you take the time and interest you can see the other bits of information reported on world events that are feeding the oncoming storm. We tend to pay little attention to these little trickles of information but we should, for from little trickles that start in the distance, when they join and combine like head waters, great rivers of information can be formed. Often , if we don't heed the reports of the swelling watersheds above us we get trapped in the flood waters that turn life into a living hell.

Enough with the colorful metaphors , let's look at the gathering storm clouds of warnings on the horizon. The rise of the red dragon China continues as it's economic strength feeds it's military machine. China is increasing it's military capabilities at an increasing pace. With technology they stole from us in the Clinton years they are upgrading their nuclear capabilities. They are also expanding their naval capabilities in an effort to one day rival the U.S. in not only the pacific , but the world. They have used their economic strength to gain control of critical shipping routes and now control the operation of the Panama canal. Threw a company with close ties to the Chinese government , Hutchinson -Whampoa , they are increasingly controlling more and more of the port operations across the globe. They hold more US debt than any other nation on earth and can , and eventually will , us this to their advantage. China has never really been a nation to venture outside it's borders with conquest in mind but as our world becomes smaller they are positioning themselves to be a top player and help shape world events. Most Americans pay little attention to the growing strength rising in the east that they eagerly feed as they buy cheep goods at the local Walmart. It's sad when people finance their own destruction and forge their own chains to be bound in.

Another bank of clouds close to the Chinese is the Russian bear. The reports of the death of communism were greatly exaggerated. Putin is methodically guiding Russia back into a totalitarian regime. He is also setting himself up to be in power for a very long time. With Russia's new found economic power from energy resources they are climbing back out of the hole that they fell into during the early eighties. Russia wants to regain their former world status and are determined to do it. Many Americans have tossed Russia into the category of old news , but , Russia's part in the future scheme of things is far from over. Whether it be Russia knocking off the rust of the military machine in the Georgian province or it's increasing influence in the South American continent , the signs are clear that Russia is a growing force rather then a shrinking threat. With close ties with China , seeing the two storm fronts combining is not just a possibility , but almost a certainty.

On Jan. 1st , 2010, the European Union implemented it's diplomatic service and appointed other officials to formalize the power of the European Union. They are now going to build up their own unified military force ,and though closely allied under the NATO treaties with the U.S. , will be a distinctly European entity. The central power in the European Union is Germany. Not to speak ill of our ally , but they don't have the best track record having played a major part in starting WW1 and WW2. The rise of a unified Europe is going to have major effects on the world stage. The concept that Europe could be against the U.S. in policy does not even cross most Americans minds since we have been have been so close for so long. Europe will in the end , look out for European interests. Much of the true monetary wealth of the world power base has been ruling from Europe for centuries. Europe is on the fast track to power consolidation despite its apparent Babylonian type schisms.

There are many smaller clouds that can also form into potential threats, and the clouds I mentioned might just simmer down into rain clouds that do little but bring minor inconveniences and puddles to cross. Personally I look to the horizon and see a storm brewing that will bring us a major tribulation that is going to rock the foundations of the world. We live in troubled , uncertain times. Morality continues to be supplanted by a "Whatever" attitude. People tend often to willingly blind themselves and ignore the gathering storm clouds. In fact , the rains have been falling up river for a long time now and the storm clouds on the horizon are just bringing the rains that will provide the surge needed to raise the waters to flood levels. Now is the time to learn to swim , get to higher ground, build a boat and batten down the hatches. When the storm starts, it will be to late!

Keep an eye on the horizon
Until next time
Lasco X

Hell breaks loose in Haiti

This weeks big news was the earthquake in Haiti. Mass devastation rocked the little island nation as a 7.0 earthquake struck the people who live there. The pictures and news reports coming out of the region show a nation devastated and thrown into utter chaos. Body's are being burned in the streets and used as barricades to block traffic. Gangs armed with machetes are fighting in the streets over food supplies. Nobody seems to be in charge and if not for the international community sweeping in to the rescue,the situation would be spiraling completely out of control.

Naturally the left and right have foot in mouth symptoms. Danny Glover on the left comes out with "the earthquake was due to the failure of the Copenhagen summit" as Pat Robertson states "It was caused due to God being angry at their devil worshiping ways ". Personally , I think at times the tectonic plates shift in violent manners and result in disastrous consequences. The bigger question , or issue , is what would happen if it happened on a massive world wide scale. What if the New Madrid fault line running up the Mississippi basin were to shift again. The last time it went, it rang the church bells on the east coast. Now we have millions more people that could be affected if it were to shift. Geologists say it is due to shift again soon , some predicted back in the 80's that it could move in the 90's and so it is possible that it already over due. Some scientists are also predicting another shift in the earths magnetic field. This type of event would affect the whole earth with earthquakes and massive volcanic events. There is several other scenarios that could affect planetary well being ranging from other natural disasters like something striking the planet to man made events like nuclear war. The point at the heart of the issue is the fragile nature of civilised society.

As has been seen in Haiti , New Orleans and the Philippines in recent years when disasters strike we find out how vulnerable we are to natures wraith. So what happens if the whole world finds it's self in the grips of a global crisis. It is naive to think that the chaos we see in Haiti cannot happen here in the U.S.A. or in any other country. People in desperate situations often resort to desperate measures. The more people are prepared for disasters, the less chaos has a chance of seizing control of the situation. The problem is most people are woefully unprepared for crisis situations. When I was younger my grandfather , who was a farmer, made an observation. He told me a tale of his brother , who while visiting his son in Chicago one winter woke up to a massive snow storm that paralyzed the city. His son's family was worried because they didn't have much food in the house to make it threw the storm. His brother seeing a set of snow shoes hanging on the wall for decoration , strapped them on , hiked to an open store and returned with supplies. My grandfather observed , in the city's , security was an open store down the block to shop in. On the farm that he worked , security was a well stocked pantry that held the supplies that you needed. In these days , most people are not thinking of the future survival needs that could be needed to maintain life. They take the power grid and clean water supplies for granted. They assume the trucks will keep restocking the stores every day, week, month and that nothing will happen to disrupt the supply chain. The event's in Haiti should remind us otherwise!

Society is a fragile system built on mutual cooperation that has a history of upheaval. The planet is littered with the remains of the advanced cultures of their times. The Olmec and Aztec ruins of the Americas, the Egyptian wonders of the world, the ancient temples in South East Asia , the remains of the great Roman Empire who's decline was both caused from within and from outside political forces all should serve as reminders that civilizations rise and fall like tides crashing on the sands of time. The hardships and chaos of disasters can be minimised greatly by proper planning. Granted , sometimes the best laid plans can be cast to the wayside due to unforeseen circumstances but to not prepare at all is just plain foolish. We live in a societal structure that encourages a disposable society. That is part of the reason our landfills push ever outward with refuse discarded sometimes not because it doesn't work , but because the new version is the latest rage and must have item. Ironically, as society advances , the more vulnerable it can become. In the last great depression millions starved and we were much more of an agrarian society back then. What could happen now that most of the population dwell in cities is scary. As we have become dependant on electrical grids and gas powered machines to do our work and support our lives we don't think of what we will need to do if they suddenly disappear. I'm aware of these things and try to prepare for life without the modern conveniences but every time the power goes down I am personally reminded of just how much more I need to prepare and how at risk my family is for troubled times. A freezer full of food does you a limited amount of good if you have no power to keep it running!

In an age where externalizing personal problems and passing the buck is wide spread we need to look inside and ask, what can I do to protect my family and help my neighbor in times of trouble. We need to spend less on wars that project our power and more on upgrading our own infrastructure to insure it can survive and be repaired in the event of a Haiti type event. We need to understand that personal responsibility starts with ourselves but also needs to extend to those who cannot do for themselves. I applaud the worlds efforts to ease the suffering that is going on in Haiti. There is times that humanity shows the best and worst sides of our nature simultaneously and this is one of those events. It is times like these we can see the human race is a rainbow of colors that all bleed the same red. To often we see groups get caught up in petty race and ideological quandary's that put us against each other. We need to rise above those emotions but at the same time realize that not everybody thinks in that manner.

If more people will prepare for disasters, the amount of suffering will greatly be reduced because there will be more resources to contribute to the effort. As always ... Plan for the worst and hope for the best. The events in Haiti this past week show why that axiom rings true.

Until next time
Lasco X

Lifestyles of the tanned and unemployed

I was working on a clubhouse that had a pool one day back in the mid eighties when one of the complexes tenants walked in to the pool area and stated "Welcome to the lifestyles of the tanned and unemployed". I thought it mildly amusing at the time and it stuck in the back of my mind. Since then it has popped back into my mind during the times that I have been unfortunate enough to find myself unemployed. It's sort of one of those "turn lemons into lemonade" type things I guess. When you find yourself in an undesirable situation you have to make the best of things otherwise you get beaten down and fall into despair. When people fall into despair they find themselves in terminal depression and experience an overall feeling of worthlessness. It's a dangerous, slippery slope that leads to a deep dark pit that is hard to climb out of. Generally when people are stuck in the pit of despair they need help getting out of it. Hopefully it just takes a friendly hand to help give them a boost out. To often people resort to psychotropic drugs cooked up by big pharma that are dangerous and addictive. The side effects of these drugs are often worse than the depression itself and lead to a permanent dependence on the expensive pills. Others often drift into addictions of alcohol and other drugs. These remedy's, like the pills from big pharma only just mask the issues and do nothing to solve the situation. Love and support from friends and relatives is the best cure for depression , but , sometimes even that is not enough. Most depressed people I think lack a sense of purpose and have a hard time appreciating the things they have , focusing on the things they do not have. I realize that this is a rather simplified opinion but I think it is very close to the truth. Society show us images on the screen where everybody is successful and all the problems are solved in only an hour or two. Television sells us a false reality where everybody is better and happier than most people ever find themselves. When people gauge their lives next to what they see on the screen they sometimes feel like they are not as good as they really are.

A lot of times the cause of depression is much more grounded in reality. Not being able to support your family because of unemployment , or under-employment is very real. These days it is a growing problem with more and more people finding themselves on the line looking for jobs that just don't exist. I find myself in the ranks of those collecting unemployment insurance. I consider myself lucky in the fact that I qualify for unemployment insurance. So many in my trade work as independent contractors and are not eligible for the benefits. This has caused wages to drop tremendously and people are giving the work away just to scrape by on what they can get. For the first time in years , the company I work for has nothing in the pipeline. The job listings have virtually no construction jobs to be had. Without a doubt it's tough out there right now. The whole economy is stagnant and the stimulus programs have done very little to kick start the economy. Our government is dumping trillions of dollars into wars and the military industrial complexes. This does virtually nothing to stimulate the private sector economy that is traditionally the largest employer. On Alex Joneses website ,Info Wars , I found a link to the Washington Blog that had a great article on the subject regarding the spending issues we are currently experiencing. It's a very good , informative read , I highly recomend it.

So , what can we do given the presant situation? First off , as the Hitch-hikers guide to the Galaxcy would say - Don't Panic! When all others loose thier heads, keep yours , is very good advice. Second , Do what you can , try and create your own job , don't lose hope! Don't wait on the government to create a job for you, you will be waiting a long time unless you want to go fight in one of the wars they have going on. Third , don't fall into the depression trap. Remember - God see's to it that the birds and beasts of the field have thier needs tended to and how much more worth you are to him then them. Or as Jaggar and the Stones once said - you can't always get what you want , but if you try sometime, you just might find , you get what you need.

Keep hanging on out there
Lasco X

Taking the wheel

Greetings and welcome to 2010! This time of year is traditionally when most people look ahead and contemplate the future. The future is always the great unknown, we can speculate all we want but we have no way of knowing what it will bring. We can plan and work towards the future, slowly shaping our path and destination. Anyone who drives a car knows that you need to look into the distance as well as be aware of the immediate surroundings to safely navigate to the desired destination. If you look only a short distance you can't see the obstacles in the distance that need to be avoided. Even worse, if you leave the driving to someone else and pay no attention to where you are going then not only can you possibly end up where you don't want to be but you could end up in really bad shape when you get there. In life it is better to be your own driver and control your own destination. We can't really control our future , but we can help shape it. If you want to hit a target you have a much better chance of hitting it if you aim at it. If you don't hit it you will at least be closer than you would be than if you shoot wildly and randomly.

I know those concepts are rather simple and self evident, but it is surprising how many people are content to sit in the back of the bus and blindly be driven to destinations of others choosing. So with that in mind it's time to take a look at where the bus seems to be headed.

We still have the slow march to world government being shaped in the lofty board rooms of the international bankers and industrialists. It has been a long term goal of the power elite to consolidate power into fewer and fewer hands. Groups like the Bilderburg Group, the Council of Rome and the Trilateral Commission to mention a few have been facilitating the slow march to power consolidation for a long time now. This is sure to continue and accelerate in speed as the goal gets closer to within reach.

The Socialization and hobbling of the United States will probably continue and intensify as Americas economy teeters on the edge of a knife. We watched as the industrial base was dismantled and shipped over seas starting back in the 70's. In the 80's we watched as Wall-Street binged on excesses of executive bonuses as wages for workers slowly slipped into a state of stagnation. The 90's brought us a period of relative prosperity , much like the roaring 20's, fueled by ever increasing debt that slowly piled up higher and higher to unfathomable levels. The turn of the century saw the Empire of the United States standing at the top of the mountain held aloft by inflated ego, stacks of mounting debt and propped up by the worlds most advanced military. The first decade of the new century also saw reality come home to roost and the sprouting of the police state appear across the land. The events of 9-11-01 precipitated the unconstitutional dismantling of the Bill of Rights and civil liberties. We were thrust into wars in the Middle East called the "war on terror" but they have an frightening similarity to the scenario put forth by Brzezinski in the "Grand Chessboard" regarding control on the Eurasian Continent. I suspect the war on terror has more to do with power projection than defending us against terrorists. In the scenario of never ending warfare that is the "war on terror" I think it prudent to heed the words of Sun Tzu from the "Art of War" - There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. The continuing economic and social strain of the wars will have lasting effects on the United States. Add to this the new national health care reform being rammed threw congress and the pot is being brought to a serious boil. As we sit with extremely high unemployment rates and growing massive national debt, 2010 will be an uphill march to get back to higher ground. Let's hope our leaders in Washington DC will stop kicking the dirt from beneath our feet as we try and climb out of the hole.

The world economic problems are not contained to the USA and calls for a new reserve currency are sure to continue. "Out of Chaos comes Order" has been a philosophy used by the Power Elite for centuries. Will this be the year the world unhinges from the dollar and shift to a global unit for national commerce? It is hard to say but forces have been driving us in that direction for sometime now. Only time will tell in the coming days ahead.

I have more faith in the American People than the American government. The bribes and favors that were reported in the pushing of the health care reform bill shows what whores we have up on the hill representing us. The American people need to dig deep and rediscover our resolve and ingenuity for invention to solve our national issues. We all need to get our credit issues under control, personally and nationally. America cannot continue expecting the world to finance us, though ,to be honest , most people don't even think about things like that! Unfortunately to many are just riding on the bus to oblivion.

My hope for 2010 , that more people will take the wheel and drive to their own destiny's rather than being driven to destinations that others choose for them.

Until next time
Lasco X