Dear Blog Readers

Hello my dear blog readers.

Our internet at home is currently down and may be down for the remainder of our stay. We will be moving back to Portland by the end of October, and are still hammering out details. With the delinquent internet, I won't be having a lot of time to write here for the next month or so. I might be able to squeeze things in here and there, but who knows.

WHAMMO TO WaMu! ...and another one bites the dust!

Reading "A Power Governments Cannot Suppress," by the great Howard Zinn. Excellent book. Don't read this, go buy yourself a copy of that book and help the common folks take back our world from the murderous corporate pigs who have owned our government and brutalized the common folks and the common good all over the world.

Other than that, I should pack it up here from here at Collette's, here in the not so great city of North Bend/Coos Bay.

Happy Anniversary and Two Days

Tuesday, September 23rd, was Shusli's and my first wedding anniversary. We celebrated at Marcy's Mexican Restaurant, on 101 near Virginia, just across the street from the Co-Op. If you are ever in Coos Bay/North Bend, drop by Marcy's for any meal. They are one of the most excellent Mexican restaurants that Shusli and I have ever been to.

For our anniversary, they also gave us a rather large dessert to help us celebrate.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, SUPER BEAUTIFUL!

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

A rose that is blossoming in our yard.

Just because it's pretty!

PS We are planning on moving back to Portland by November 1st.

The Sound of Silence

Have you noticed that since the olympic games in Beijing, China, that protests about China's human rights violations have pretty much fallen silent? I guess when there isn't a camerman in their faces, there isn't much to say about human rights violations. Mind you, I know there are still protesters out there that are actually doing the work. But most, a vast majority, are stroking each other with great tales of their deeds while millions are still suffering.

Voices also continue to fall silent about the human rights violations in Canada against the Indigenous folks in the Whistler BC area where the winter olympics will be held. Sacred sites are being destroyed, as well as many other issues, and the only folks I hear talking about this are the Native Youth Movement out of that area. Where are the protesters screaming about the Chinese human rights violations. Those folks started protesting the Chinese a couple of years prior to the games being held? Maybe they're polishing their "I Protested the Chinese" badges? Maybe Red Nigg...oops, Indians, aren't as human as Chinese on the "Race Ratio Scale?" Maybe certain occupational governments are more acceptable than others? Maybe it is OK for certain races to commit human rights violations and not others? Maybe it is OK for certain governments to commit human rights violations and not others? Any of you folks who protested the Chinese olympics have any answers to these and many more questions? You're probably not even reading this. You're probably busy telling folks how great you are while millions continue to suffer. Or maybe you are just too busy polishing your "I Protested the Chinese" badges.

As well, with very little research, it has been apparent that the Olympics have violated human rights in all countries where they have been held for DECADES, if not since their inception. Yes, even when held here in the United States. Are their any protests against the horrors generally caused by the Olympics committee? Any protests against the Olympics for violating the human rights of millions wherever they are held? Nope. Why is that? What makes the Olympics Committee so special as to be above international law that they are allowed to continue to violate human rights and get away with it? Let's ask the protesters of the Chinese olympics.

"..."

What about human rights in general violated right here in the U.S.?

"..."

Hmmm. Interesting. Can I quote you on that?

"..."

And Yet Another Form of Genocide

Read this. It is about Native Grave desecration and rape for the greed of all. Another form of genocide.

Where Worlds Begin

standing in the food line
with sweetness by my side
where the world turns
begins and ends

worlds are created in the ripples of the river
bouncing reflected sunlight
giving birth to joy and life

here in the meadow
of cow pies and stomped grass
here in the world
where mountain cows protect the earth
here hand in hand
with my sweetheart
whose sun lifts the world
into the universe

i stand at the meadow
hear worlds bend in the wind
hidden amongst the turks
who hide amongst them


worlds begin and end
come and go
begin and end
come and go

happy anniversary beautiful

Follow the Bouncing Ball

No surprise that the stock market made an alleged comeback. A rubber ball bounces high, then comesback down and hits, then bounces again...repeatedly...until the energy that released it dissipates and it rests lifeless on the ground.

In my opinion and lay studies of the current economic collapse, I realize more clearly that it is the foibles of the rich and the follies of the not so rich and working class that have created this mess that the U.S. and World will not soon recover from. Soon the ball will quit bouncing.

The rich, being the greedy bastards that they are, Love making more money for themselves. The mortage crisis has been caused by the greed of the wealthy. They made offers of easy loans to "high risk" folks so they could further inflate their coffers of wealth with steady payments of those who make payments on houses. But wait...that's not enough.

Union labor, having bought in to corruption for the most part, has not done an efficient job of organizing over the last decades and thus empoyees go unprotected and their jobs can be granted to folks in more desperate need of money who will accept tinier offerings and thus, leaving the wealthy with more wealth. So, U.S. corporations have sent millions of jobs overseas and across borders to folks whose labor can be horrifically exploited and the wages kept excessively low. Thanks to the works of Reagan, Bush 1, and Bill Clinton, conditions for the working class in the U.S. were horrifically weakened, and then along comes Bush 2 to weaken them even further.

Unions, it would seem, and correct me if I'm wrong, are not working that hard at recruiting, nor are they working hard at countering union busting firms or the violation of human rights that union busting IS (read "The Universal Declaration on Human Rights"). There is no give and take between the working and owning class. Workers do not own their work, their work is owned by the owning class. Workers have no say. Workers are in a position of expendability and thus, are truly the lowest common denominator to the owning class. Since workers have virtually no say in their labor in the U.S., and the owners have most of the say about our labor (read "Nickel and Dimed"), the workers, and ESPECIALLY the working poor are in a dangerously vulnerable position with no forms of real development to protect their assets. The rich control those.

The current mortage crisis is blamed on folks taking out housing loans that they would not be able to pay back once the increases hit. These increases of amounts like 1% don't sound like much until your mortage goes up $400 or more and usually include balloon payments of exorbident amounts. But wait, there's more...

The rich, in their desire to acquire more wealth for themselves, understand that the largest expense they have is labor, and thus look for cheaper labor markets around the world no matter the human rights violations and excessive poverty created to create their wealth. Money is virtually all they see. This, of course, takes jobs out of the American job market (not Mexicans and other folks south of the border like American racists like to believe). With more people losing jobs, especially high paying jobs, especially union jobs that are forced overseas, there are fewer people able to purchase the shit the wealthy want us to buy to continue their vast and excessively comforting wealth.

So, in their horrific excessive greed, the wealthy enjoy watching the "beasts" wallow in suffering and slow death while they enjoy oppulence and protection by paying their protectors a vast sum, with the exception of the corporate owned U.S. miliatary. Join the military, kill for the wealthy, if you're a woman get predated by your comrades and often raped, and paid little money while being forced to "obey" (land of freedom my ass) orders without question or face prison. If you are a paid mercenary who Loves killing, raping, and torturing, like...say...employees of Eric Prince's Blackwater corporation, you get paid well to kill and make suffer your fellow "beasts" so your owners can live joyfully and comfortably. You get your piece of the pie, doncha?

To make a long story short, the current financial crisis wasn't created by the poor's bad finanacial planning, it was created by the wealthy whose excessive greed blinded them to the bad exposure to collapse that their greed has led us to.

With the Fed dousing billions upon billions in credit and loans to wealthy bankers (who won't be using that money to help out us "beasts"), that money has to come from somewhere, but where? From us poor paying taxes of course. But with job losses increasing every quarter, businesses and banks reporting multi-billion dollar losses EVERY QUARTER, I think it is safe to say that their are fewer tax payers. That money will come from infrastructure, you know, programs that are designed to help us "beasts" do things like...STAY ALIVE AND HEALTHY. Our tax dollars going to the "beasts?" HELL NO! Everybody knows the wealthy deserve our money much more than we do. Give all our tax dollars to the wealthy and everything will be fine. The wealthy will take care of us, right, you know, by not doing things such as sending our jobs overseas for cheaper more exploitable job markets. And of course, we all know the Unions would never let us down...right?

War, is a tool to create vast wealth for the greedy. All they have to do for us well trained beasts is to say things like, "Russia is becoming another Hitler," and *POOF*, like magic, folks will fall in line behind the "cold war" and future "hot war" with Russia, and let's not forget Iran. If you read "War is a Racket" by Smedley Butler, you will know exactly what I'm talking about, if you don't already. Billions upon billions is being made for the already excessively wealthy with the U.S. illegal and genocidal actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, why won't a genocidal war with Russia and Iran work as well?

Because the economy is collapsing.

With the current financial crisis, the defunding of the federal government refilling the coffers of the wealthy, the greater job losses that will continue, the rising fuel costs that will continue, the fact that most of the wealth created in the U.S. is credit and not based on forms of real wealth (property, resources, etc.), I believe it is safe to say that what we are seeing is a bouncing rubber ball of an economy that will soon stop bouncing. At that point, the wealthy will no longer be able to pay the exporbident funds to their heavily armed protectors, or for that matter, the minimal funds paid to their non-thinking military counterparts. Will the killing come to an end? Will people actually start thinking and realize what has been going on all this time? I don't think so. I hope folks, like those with the guns protecting the wealthy from all forms of uprisings from their fellow beasts would be gracious enough not to be as greedy as their owners, but I doubt it. It is greed that feeds their desire to kill for "the man," as it were.

I hope that there will be a fundamental change of consciousness when the ball finally stops bouncing. I hope that before then, more and more folks are taking care of each other, helping each other, protecting each other, Loving each other enough to fight for one another. We'll see, only time will tell.

So don't worry all you gloom and doomers, the illusory stock market bounce back will be followed by yet another hit further down the hill, then another bounce up, then another drop and hit further down the hill, and soon it will have no more artificial energy to keep it bouncing way down at the bottom.

Take care of each other, folks. Take care of each other.

Powwow

Shusli's people are having a powwow this weekend at Foster Bar on the Rogue River near Agness, Oregon. Be there! Hang out with us. Dance with us. Enjoy life with us.

Death

One of my favorite residents in long term passed away yesterday. When I worked that hall, she would always be excited to see me. She couldn't talk all that much, but she was so sweet and kind.

Although she was up and down when I worked long term, I had no idea she was so close to dying until yesterday when a fellow CNA told me. I went in her room and told her good-bye before and after she passed. It is different dealing with death this way.

When folks enter the doors of a care facility it is either for a long recovery or to die (however long that may take). There are indeed variations of this form, but those are the two major patterns.

It is hard to describe or even for me to understand. For now, I won't even attempt. Just know that a sweet little old lady has passed on. She lived a long life, and I, as well as other care workers, had the honor and privilege of knowing her on her last months.

And Another One Bites the Dust!

Lehman Brothers, America's fourth largest investment bank, is on the verge of collapse as it will be claiming bankruptcy soon. Combine that with the Fannie May and Freddie Mac bailout, two major hurricane/storms in the south, a two front war, a cold war with Russia, a merging war with Pakistan (the Pakistan military stopped an illegal U.S. helicopter raid going across its borders), as well as many other factors, and what do you think is gonna happen?

Our tax dollars are going to prop up the rich in the FAILING banking systems because of their bad decisions. Our tax dollars are going to two foreign wars. Our tax dollars are going into a cold war with Russia and possibly an outright war with Russia within the time frame of the next adminstration, if the whole economy hasn't collapsed by then. Our tax dollars probably won't be going to help the folks who are suffering because of the two storms in the gulf region, but they will undoubtedly go to wealthy types who get paid not to help those people (remember Katrina?). And a whole list of other stuff...

All of that tax money, being given to the excessively wealthy, means less infrastructure. Means lives. Means humans en masse will suffer within the borders of the U.S. as well as beyond the current borders.

The good news is...U.S. arms dealers are making billions selling arms to folks who claim allegiance to U.S. global domination, but there are so many nations full of folks angry enough at the U.S. to turn their guns on U.S.; guns purchased from gazillionaire U.S. arms dealers.

"Things that make you go Hmmm..."

Other than that...HAVE A NICE DAY!

The Zen of Chess

On page 62 of "The Complete Chess Course" by Fred Reinfeld (Doubleday 1953), there was a chess problem that displayed an utter defeat. After some rather amazing moves which involved a couple of brilliant sacrifices on behalf of the white side, the Black side suffered a brutal defeat. The thinking that went into the moves is brilliant, and took me, a mere beginner, quite a bit of studying to understand...then CLICK! It made sense.

The last two white moves involved the Queen taking Black's Queen side Rook (still on its original square), then the King side Rook (also on its original square). Black then resigns. [The photographs show the position Black is in when they resign]. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why black resigned. It seemed to me that there was still some fight left. It took me a while to realize that Black is, indeed, utterly defeated in this particular game. *CLICK*

That's what black gets for leaving its King exposed in the center instead of castling early in the game.

I really Love chess.

Native Americans neglected after Gustav - 12 Sep 08

Turns out Indians were in the way of oil corporations making money, and therefore, are being forced to suffer after hurrican Gustav. This is also known as "Business as Usual" when it comes to the U.S. government dealings with Indians.

Figures, too, that you will only find this story on English Al Jazeera.

...And Suddenly It Occurs To Me...

Obama is going to win the election.

John Trudell gave a lecture at Lane Community College a few months back. In that lecture he stated that it didn't matter who won between Hillary and Obama becuase the Democrats will win the whitehouse. The system needs to get some pretty aggregious legislation passed and that can only be done under the democrats because the masses will pay attention if a Republican makes those changes. I wasn't buyin' it in whole, so I put as many pieces together myself, and in discussions with Shusli and an interview on English Al-Jazeera of Howard Zinn, I suddenly came to the realization that yes, indeed, Obama will win in November. Here is why I think that.

In the Al Jazeera interview with Howard Zinn, Howard states this nation needs a rebellion by the people. King Dick and co-King George have seriously pushed folks closer to a rebellion. (Thank goodness for the public education system keeping folks as stupid as possible.) So, how do you play the pieces without getting folks to realize the corporate owners of this nation want Obama in office so they can pass their aggregious legislation?

McCain is proving himself to be an idiot, compared to Obama being rather articulate and intelligent. McCain calls on Palin to be his running mate. Palin calls herself an anti-abortion feminist, of which there is no such thing. She calls on abstinence while her daughter gets pregnant at 17. She uses her husbands race as tokenism in order to garner liberal sympathy. All of this, however, is easily seen through. Palin, as governer of Alaska, has been EXTREMELY ANTI-indigenous. She states she is a feminist, but makes the joke that the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull is that a hockey mom wears lipstick. This was a statement to make her seem tough, but also equates them with female dogs, commonly called "bitches." (This was brought to my attention by Shusli). These moves are setting up the Republicans up for a REQUIRED loss. The transparency of these moves being losing choices are not too blantant as to wake up the under educated American masses. These moves say "we want to lose" without coming out and saying "we want to lose." That way, those who believe voting will actually change something will continue to play this lie of a game.

Another bad move is that Palin has stated she is willing to go to war with Russia if they invade Georgia a second time, which will most likely happen as the U.S. increases weapon supplies to that nation. This is something that I believe King Dick and co-King George have desired since the co-King violated the nuclear non-proliferation treaty unilaterally (a violation of the U.S. constitution). I'm sure co-King George would Love to have a victory where his Nazi comrades had failed. That, or at least a highly profitable cold war. All of this policy to be continued under the democrats with future King Obama. Much easier for a democraic instead of a republican king to get away with because large portions of the American masses will be chanting "at least he's a democrat."

Obama chose Biden because Joe Biden is intelligent and knows his way around the U.S. government. Good move. However, Shusli informed me that rumor is now abound that Joe may back out and Barak may ask Killary to be his running mate. If Hillary becomes VP, you can expect millions upon millions of people to die and millions more to suffer. But there again, it is that toughness that folks like to fantasize about making a good candidate, and "at least she's a democrat." So, this could turn out to be a good move should this actually take place. Even rumor of this can be good for the dems because many dems love the mass murderer, Hillary, and are leaning to vote for mass murderer McCain since Killary didn't win the nomination.

When Obama wins, all sorts of aggregious legislation to control the people, destroy health care, destroy infrastructure, and hand over all wealth to the owning class can then be made into law, you know, like Bill Clinton helped forward during his eight year reign as King. Still, thanks to the mass media and the public education system, folks will still be yelling out "THIS IS THE LAND OF FREEDOM!" as freedoms are continually deteriorated under a democratic kingdom, or queendom should Killary gain the position.

You may still be saying that Obama will bring change, and I will inform you that Obama's foreign policy advisor is Zbigniew Brzinski(sp?). Brzinski wrote "The Grand Chessboard," a book about global domination via policy making and slaughtering of gazillions of folks like you and me. Oh, yes, even though Obama has slaughtered far fewer people than McCain or Killary, he will indeed continue the slaughtering for the corporations.

However, with Obama in office, many who have been intensified into rebellion or at least thinking about or desiring it, will be lulled to sleep. As freedoms, the American people, and people worldwide are destroyed, many rebellious types will be chanting their sweet little mantra, "at least he (or she) is a democrat." Lord knows how many hundreds of times I heard that mantra by intelligent folks as democrat King Bill Clinton enacted legislation that would have NEVER been passed (at least not without extreme opposition) by a republican.

So, Obama will win the office, with or without Killary, and as he enacts aggregious legislations that will create further suffering so the corporations can create vaster wealth for themselves, the urge to rebel against the genocidal U.S. government will be laid to sweet dream sleeps with the kind and gentle mantra...probably from behind barbed wire fences on wooden cots without mattersses..."at least he's a democrat."

I believe we need a rebellion. I believe we'd all be better off if we take care of each other. May this little and useless post be a sounding cheer to those of you who will carry rebellion in your hearts, as well as a Love for the people. "The true Revolutionary is motivated by GREAT feelings of Love." Express your Love for the people as best and as beautifully as you can. Thank you!

What's Today a

Oh Yeah! September 11. Let me be the first to say...F**K SEPTEMBER 11!

I mean no disrespect to the victims, but this thing has played out way too long. The deaths of those folks and the trauma of seeing those towers MYSTERIOUSLY come down and all the rest of them taken down after the fact to make the owner a rather serious amount of money (twice his investment I understand) has been used as an excuse to slaughter millions of people. F**K SEPTEMBER 11!

You know, given all the information about the incident, one would think that thinking folks would revolt against this genocidal U.S. government. Give them time. Help them out. Folks feel disempowered by their day to day plights for the most part. Help each other! That's it, maybe more.

The U.S. government has been the most genocidal and horrific monster ever to have existed. One just has to look at the history with an honest vision. Don't go into the romance of that "founding fathers" BS. They would have LOVED the way things are turning out. A handful of folks are making serious money, and that is what they were all about. Freedom? C'MON! Please, read your history. Ain't nothin' changed. Ain't nothin' gonna change when Obama gets elected either. His winning of the presidential election will just lower the tensions that make a rebellion sweet sounding and tasty. Folks will be saying as they watch the nation further destroy, kill, and maim (even their own) "at least he's a democrat. No need for rebellion here. Everyone stay calm. It's a democrat doing all those horrible things." Whereas, if McCain won the election, that would create deeper tensions and ripen the desire for rebellion more rapidly, and the system can't have that.

So, discuss September 11 all you want. I'd rather you all helped each other, and in your spare time, enjoy life and take care of others and do what you can to create a world without this occupational U.S. government. Make a world where we all care about each other and are willing to help. We can do the testosterone thing as well. We can puff up our chests in mock wars. We really don't need to kill each other. Smack each other around from time to time to release that aggression, but mostly...TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER!

That said...I'm gonna take a shower. I'm off of my work day, and I'm pretty happy. Maybe I'll even sqeeze in a game of computer chess while I wait for my sweet wife to get home. Sound good? Does to me.

This is me, signing off for now, and don't forget...TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER!

Our Visit With Eli

On our way down to visit Eli, we got to see some spectacular views!

Beautiful Nurse!

Spectacular Sunsets!

"Zoltar says you will see Eli soon!"

TA-DUH!

We camped outside of Junction City where Eli is stationed. It was a nice camp ground, though next to the road, which didn't matter all that much because there was hardly any traffic. Eli came to visit us Saturday morning before he had to work, and we spent our time going to Weaverville for a spectacular breakfast, etc. We also went to see the local monestary.

We picked up Eli and headed to Arcata. We went to Eureka, had a few beers, then we ate at Mazzotti's. OH MY GOD! I ate the best canneloni EVER! It was stuffed with scallops. It was so amazing that the chef came out and accepted my compliments in person.

We went into Arcata the next day. I won't tell you about our breakfast in Eureka because, well, we all had homicidal desires during that meal. We did some shopping around and hanging out in the sun before we drove Eli back to his work.
This is the fire engine Eli worked on this year. Next year he will be in Zig Zag. I think he will be jumping out of "perfectly good helicopters" next year.
Oh, yeah. While camping, I got to play a few games of chess on my Saitek Mephisto hand held. I upped the level and still won. This time, however, I was aware of my strategies in winning.

Weaverville

On our visit with Eli, we went to the town of Weavervill where we had the best omlette we've ever had at the Garden Cafe.
Weaverville is a tourist town with a lot of interesting little shops and a co-op that sells Blackfire CD's.
There was a little nice clothing, jewelry, art shop whose name I unfortunately forget.

Shusli found her dream shoe at a shoe shop in town, but did not purchase them. Shoes are very important to nurses as the amount of time they spend on their feet on those hospital floors.
Here is a mural we saw on a building in Weaverville. Shusli and I both agreed that Onestaa could have done a whole lot better of a job.
Shusli and I were both touched by this painting, created by the artist pictured. It seemed like a childlike expression of fear and beauty in California's fiery North.
Sunflowers on a warm sunny day.
There was going to be a benefit for the families of the fallen in this years fire. These are posters of the folks who lost their lives in the helicopter crash a month ago. These were all over town.

Buddhist Monestary

On our visit with Eli, we visited a Buddhist Monestary not far from his station.