Felicia

We picked up Felicia on Saturday during Oregon Country Fair, and have since brought her home to Coos Bay to hang out with us for a week.

We sure Love Felicia. She enjoyed walking on the beach.

We took her to a gathering of our local friends and she had a good time. She got to enjoy and understand a little of her own personal power.

I took her to a labor concert at Colette's the other day. She got bored, but I enjoy putting her into situations she would not otherwise be in. It may not seem to touch her, but I think it will be with her for a long time.

Last night, Shusli, Felicia, and I bought some junk food. Shusli made a delicious dinner and we all sat down and watched "Drillbit Taylor." It was pretty good.

It is good having Felicia around. We missed her and it is good to be an influence in her life of a different nature.

75

Today, my dad would have been 75. He died in '81 of scirrosis of the liver. He Loved his kids and all kids even when he was drunk. He wasn't perfect, but he was a damned good fella with a good heart. Don't forget, Dad, send reinforcements.

218b: CF

Shusli and I went to the Oregon Country Fair this weekend. We left Coos Bay on Friday.

Our first stop was in Mapleton at the Alpha-Bit Cafe, ran by the Alpha Farm, which is an organic hippie farming community started back in the '70's. We were the only 2 customers there that were having a sit down meal, Shusli a salad, me a vegie burger. With 5 employees that we saw running around there, it took them half an hour to get us served. I recall that one woman told the young woman who was serving us, "I know you are under a lot of stress..." A lot of stress? It took her about 15 minutes just to get around to getting started on our meals. WTF?

That was frustrating enough for me, so we headed to "Carefree Camp Grounds," just across the street from the fair, where the young woman at the gate had no idea what we were supposed to do. Again, adding to my frustration. We finally got an idea of what to do, went to find a camping spot and did so. Upon returning, they had one helluva time finding Shusli's name in their records. Turned out that they put her name along with her daughters when Rachel and her boyfriend arrived the evening before. Then they had a hard time figuring out why I had an extra ticket on order and what to do about that. Finally, we were all cleared to go, Shusli and I parked the car and walked into the Fair.

The fair was nice. It was really great to see all the folks dressed in all sorts of things, and in some cases, barely dressed at all. One thing was really clear at such a hippie fest, women are very beautiful, and we men...well...we men are pretty much NOT! Most men were wearing pretty much the same ensemble I was...long shorts and t-shirts. Wow...we men are pretty much not that creative when it comes to dressing. "What a lovely shade of beige." We listened to some music, I decompressed from the stress, we ate some food, and had ourselves a good ole time seeing all the folks expressing themselves in so many various ways.

Back at camp, we set up and went to a "Bonfire" where a whole mess of mostly young hippie types were playing drums and other instruments and having a good ole time. That was fun. Although it was a "quiet camp," there was noise all night long from the other camp that "quiet" is not really the word for it. One noise sounded like an amplified didjeriedoo being played Metallica style. Shusli and I slept well despite the noise.

Saturday morning we woke up and I found myself arguing with a Mr. Stone, Mr. Kid Knee Stone, so we sent Shusli on her way to have some fun while we argued at camp where I finally fell asleep and woke up later not long before Shusli got back, and we headed to Portland to pick up Felicia.

We had dinner at Burgerville in Portland, went to a Sumptown, and told Felicia that it our plan to move back to PDX next spring because we miss her and miss the town. Felicia seems a little more mature everytime we see her. I Love that little girl.

We got back to camp and went to the "bonfire" again where we heard lots of drumming and saw lots of young hippie types having a good time. We also had a good time. Felicia, unfamiliar with dancing, actually started dancing on her own to the music. There were bagpipes and such, and Rachel and her boyfriend Adam even brought drums and joined in the merry making. The camp police came out and ended our foray saying that time was up and this was a "quiet camp." Don't make us bring out the water cannons and pepper spray (just kidding on that last part).

On the way back, Shusli helped a young man with a disability carry his chair back to his camp. I helped out as well. And about the time we got him back to his camp, the camp police started checking bracelets and noticed Felicia didn't have one. I was told I would have to get her checked in right now. What the consequences would have been I'm sure would have included constant harassment and possibly eviction from the camp police, so I rather angrily got the ticket and got her checked in. I was not in the mood for such regulation and bullshit when we were there to have a good time.

Sunday AM, Shusli cooked up some potatoes and Rachel and Adam joined us from breakfast. We packed up the car and headed for the fair. We heard some good music. We watched an old Spanish woman dance Flemenco. That was amazing. Shusli informed me the woman was almost 70 years old. She was quite the dancer.

Shusli dressed up and looked very nice. Oh-boy! I wore the usual guy ensemble. We saw one fella whose body was painted and he had a bag over his package. We saw a parade, and we had ourselves a good ole time eating fruit salad, listening to good music, seeing all sorts of weirdos, and we walked back to the car to head back to Coos Bay.

Before we left, however, the littlest camp police person, a girl of about 9-years-old almost threw herself in front of the car to make sure we stopped so an adult camp policeman could come up and cut the wrist bands from our hands so we couldn't pass them on to someone else and these capitalist types would not be able to screw somebody out of a few bucks. And off to home we went. We skipped Alpha-Bit on the way home, as well, and got back to the cool air where we all, Shusli, Felicia, and I, sat down and watched Bubba Ho-Tep.

IT'S A NEW RECORD!

That's right, folks, oil which went down in price recently has REBOUNDED and is now at around $146.90 for A NEW RECORD! This after the U.S. threatened Iran for testing a rocket, so Iran tested another one. The impending war is helping to raise the price of oil. Nigeria is also up in arms, literally, as many folks there don't want the U.S. backed government in power and are threatening further violence. Exxon, Shell, etc., making a killing by making a killing.

Here in Coos Bay, gas prices remained at $4.39 for about 3 weeks and recently dropped with the price of oil to $4.35. No doubt this new development will raise the price of a gallon of gas. I guess we'll have to take out a loan to fill the tank.

But wait, taking out a loan just might become more difficult as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in a downward spiral. The lending firms which back mortgages seem to be in a downward spiral as their stock values fall with the housing crisis. No clear news as to whether King Dick or co-King George will do anything about this, but there again, Fannie and Freddie aren't oil companies.

Combine all this economic downturn with a stock market that is plunging ever downward, a dollar that is plunging ever downward, a $3,000,000,000,000 going on in Iraq, a hefty priced war in Afghanistan (not to mention the millions of lives and millions of people displaced), the flooding in the midwest destroying a large portion of crops (which co-King George's versioin of FEMA will be helping like they did with Katrina), a continued drought in Australia destroying crops, impending trillion dollar war with Iran, airline cut backs and collapses, job growth collapsing, unemployment rising, stagnating wages, rising gas and food prices, war in Somalia, oil exploration which will cost more than it will save, destruction of the environment with oil exploration, the mortgage crisis, banks collapsing,...I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Have a nice day!

Hello...World...!!!

Dear world,

As I'm sure you've heard, Iran has tested their Shahab-3 missile.

"Iran's state-controlled TV channel Al-Alam said that a Shahab-3, with a range of 2,000km, was among nine missiles fired from an undisclosed location in the Iranian desert on Wednesday."

This, of course, increases tension between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. They like to think that it can deliver a nuclear warhead because that plays into the propaganda in initiating a war against Iran. Iran refuses to hand over their oil resources to big U.S. businesses and therefore must pay, if the U.S. in consistent with their usual patterns.

As well, Iran conducted military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz in preparation for the onslaught led by the U.S. and Israel.

Robert Gates, U.S. Defense Secretary, denies that their is any plans to slaughter and displace millions of Iranians. However, denial is also a part of the U.S. pattern.

Don't forget, the U.S. planned their original attack on Iraq when Bush 1 was in office 4 years before hand with 7 different military exercises for an invasion, some of which inlcuded an invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. If the U.S. is consistent in their patterns, and they don't have any reason NOT to be, they are already performing their own military exercises against Iran which I'm sure will be an attempt at a form of Blitzkreig. Begin with an air attack, when Iran fights back, use greater force and then you have an excuse for a gound invasion and occupation.

The U.S. may also have the intent to just cripple Iran so they can steal cheap oil from them or have some form of control over Iran's oil sales. These are consistent with U.S. government behavior.

It is stated by Seymour Hersch that the U.S. plans on starting a war with Iran during co-King George's official lame duck period. That way, the next president will guarantee a continued Iranian oppression if not occupation.

All of this will cost a megaton of money which will continue the U.S. in its ever downward economic spiral. And, of course, oil prices will go up and we will feel it at the gas pump and on the grocery shelves.

So, world, let me point out a few things here, which I'm sure most of you are aware of:

The U.S. IS the biggest stockpiler of nuclear weapons. Israel is also a nation armed with nuclear weapons. The U.S. is the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons. If the U.S., Israel, and other nations have nuclear weapons, why can't Iran? Isn't the U.S. in violation of the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty? Why doesn't any of this matter in the nuclear issue with Iran? Why has the IAEA stated that Iran does not have the capability to produce a nuclear weapon? Why does the intelligence state that Iran gave up their nuclear weapons ambitions in 2003? Why isn't Iran giving over their oil to the U.S. empire like they are required to by the U.S. empire?

Just a few questions, world. There's more, but I don't want you to forget to read about Somalia on the previous post.


The U.S. did this, and by gum, they wanna do it again!

Somalia: Another Illegal Bush War

Thanks to Ridwan for bringing my attention to more horrific genocide and senseless slaughter that I haven't paid attention to led behind the scenes by none other than the U.S. empire. King Dick and co-King George have an illegal and genocidal war going on in Somalia.

Here is a quote form a recent article called, "Bush's Rampage In Somalia," by Mike Whitney, gleaned from "Dissident Voice."

"Heavy fighting and artillery fire have reduced large parts of Mogadishu to rubble. More than 700,000 people have been forced to leave the capital with nothing more than what they can carry on their backs. Entire districts have been evacuated and turned into ghost towns. The main hospital has been bombed and is no longer taking patients. Ethiopian snipers are perched atop rooftops across the city. Over 3.5 million people are now huddled in the south in tent cities without sufficient food, clean water or medical supplies. It is the greatest humanitarian crisis in Africa today; a man-made Hell entirely conjured up in Washington.

"Just weeks ago, Amnesty International reported that it had heard many accounts that Ethiopian troops were “slaughtering (Somalis) like goats.” In one case, “a young child’s throat was slit by Ethiopian soldiers in front of the child’s mother.”"

Sounds like the work of the U.S. empire under King Dick and co-King George to me. It is their clear and consistent pattern.

This is from an interview by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now with Abdi Samatar, professor of Global Studies at the University of Minnesota, also quoted in Mike Whitney's article:

"What you have is really terror in the worst sense of the word, a million people have been displaced that the Ethiopians have been denying humanitarian aid, and the United States which seems to just watch and let it happen."

And go figure! Guess why the U.S. (in my opinion) is backing this illegal and genocidal war. OIL!

"The real motives behind the invasion were oil and geopolitics. According to most estimates 30 percent of America’s oil will come from Africa in the next ten years."

The article also states that the illegal occupying forces from Ethopia are close to signing an agreement to allow U.S. oil corporations in to steal all of their resources. Who would have thunk? Seems that the previous government wasn't convinced by the U.S. to sign over their oil.

The U.S. used its U.S. directed UN to sign illegal documents authorizing the illegal invasion. They stated that the ICU, Somalia's government at the time which brought actual peace and stability was linked to...you guessed it...Al Queda. They alleged that these folks who weren't signing over their oil to the king and co-king were terrorists.

If you are sitting on oil right now that you aren't handing over to the king and co-king, expect mass slaughter soon. King Dick and co-King George are again claiming Venezula is a terrorist state. They are trying to get a trade agreement with Columbia set up. I have to wonder if maybe there are military bases that will be created with this agreement. At least I'm sure their will be some wonderful arms deals going on there.

Right now, as gets pointed out in many arenas, the only thing making it to the news coming out of Africa is Mugabe. Mugabe makes a good smoke screen for U.S. illegal behavior all over Africa.

"Oil that is. Black Gold. Texas Tea."

Ian and Sue

Ian and sue are friends of mine and Shusli's. They put on a festival most every year called "The Spiral Rhythms Festival. This year, however, they did not have the funds and are fund raising for the festival for 2009. They are currently planning on having Casey Neill and Dr. Atomic's Medicine Show for the 2009 festival.

They are going through town and decided to drop by and see us. Because of her work schedule, Shusli was sleeping, so I visited with them myself at Books by the Bay and their Coffee Grounds cafe.

It was really good to see them and talk with them. It has been a long time. These are the first folks who have come through from our friends in the PDX area since we've moved down here. Since it is summer, I am hoping a few make it down this way, but understand along with the high gas and food prices and other things to do if folks don't make it down.

Good to see you, Ian and Sue. May your journey be fun and beautiful and may you be safe and happy!

Our Back Yard

These are a few photos of the beauty that grows in our back yard. Our front yard is trim and mostly brown, but since our back yard is fenced in, Shusli and I let it grow like it wants...with the exception of the invasive Scotch Broom.

Our back yard is especially beautiful on windy days with the grasses are bent back and forth to the changing rhythms of the unseen but felt forces of the wind. In general, it feels great to see it just outside our back door and to go sit on the deck thingy and watch the grasses bend and hear the force of the wind.

The Healing Power of Laughter

[Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis as Elvis and JFK respectively]

When I'm alone and watch a funny movie, I usually don't laugh all that much. Laughter is something I guess I enjoy sharing. That said:

I watched "Bubba Ho-Tep" with Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis and LAUGHED MY ASS OFF!

Elvis changed places with an Elvis impersonator years before but fell off a stage impersonating himself, broke his hip, and wound up in an old folks home.

Ossie Davis plays JFK who survived the assassination and was dyed black and wound up in the same old folks home as Elvis.

An ancient mummy does raids on the old folks home and sucks peoples souls out of their bodies to help him to live. Elvis and JFK decide to try to kill the mummy.

This movie was so funny, I laughed outloud all by myself at home.

It was made in 2002, and was another one of those movies I've wanted to see but just didn't get around to it. I'm glad I did.

Racism

[Malcolm X was Loved and Respected by many in Ireland]

Hello folks. I am going to get going here with another discussion on racism. This is gonna be fun, don't you think.

Shusli made a post of how a young Irish "illegal immigrant" was shot to death in Silverton by one, officer Gonzalez. Andrew Hanlon, the 20-year-old young man, shot to death by Gonzalez, was unarmed.

Along comes Mr. Anonymous spreading what seem to be false statements thus far that Gonzalez was related to a couple of Columbians who were shot to death by one Joe Horn in Pasadena Texas. Seems that these two Columbian fellas, Dejusus and Ortiz, were passing through Joe's backyard after committing a burglary, so Joe shot them in the back and killed them both. Mr. Anonymous alleges that information came out of Salem that he seems to be the only one privvy to, that Gonzalez is related to the two Columbians Joe Horn got away with murdering and that Gonzalez has been waiting to avenge their deaths by killing a white man. Still haven't found any relevant information linking the two, so I have no reason to believe this is true and personally think that Mr. Anonymous is attempting to fire up a bunch of race hate for his own personal agenda.

Here is one interesting quote from Mr. Anonymous on Shusli's blog:

"OREGON IS A GANGSTER STATE FILLED WITH ROGUE COPS. OPEN SEASON ON WHITE PEOPLE BY MEXICANS."

I have encountered this type of behavior before. There are many folks out there who believe that it is not racism until it happens to a white person. I don't hear Mr. Anonymous saying that it was open season on Latinos by whites when Portland Police shot Muhia Poot to death. Nor do I hear him say that it is open season against blacks when white male Portland Police shot to death Kendra James or James Perez. You see, to folks like Mr. Anonymous, racism doesn't really happen unless it happens to a white man.

So far, there has been no clear information or for that matter any "serious and founded" allegations against Gonzalez that his killing of Hanlon was done out of hatred for white folks.

Mind you, I have no Love for cops. Those that aren't criminals know of the criminal activities of their comrades and thus complicit and I will NEVER completely trust a cop as I've read of how some have even gone after their own friends because they wanted to steal their land. Cops are also chosen for their aggressive behavior and trained to "take control" of a situation. To take control, they are trained to use force. Everyone is a criminal to a cop, and thus treated accordingly.

So here we have a system that hires mean folks to keep us "beasts" under control. This is an issue many folks have been trying to deal with for years (like "Cop Watch"), and it still continues. Cops have gotten away with murder. They are not trained to de-escalate a situation and handle it safely. They are trained to take control by force. If that means innocent people have to die, then they will kill them. It is a whole system that needs to be recognized and changed by the people. I don't think folks will change the system, however, because folks enjoy the comfort of believing that "cops are our friends."

Mr. Hanlon's murder upset Shusli. So she wrote a post about it, a eulogy, if you will. Then, Mr. Anonymous gets on their using her eulogy to spread his race hate.

Mr. Anonymous has proven himself to be an extremely disrespectful fella. He has taken someones death, most likely a murder of sorts, and is using it to spread race hate and lies in my opinion. Like all chicken shits, he doesn't use his real name. Now this is an issue I have with folks like this because when you spread your racist ideas around like that, brave up, show your superiority, and give me your name and face.

I, and many others, have spread our ideas out in writings, on the radio, on television, and I and many others are not afraid to put our names and faces behind the ideas we profess. I have been proven a couple of times that I was wrong. I have admitted on the radio and on TV when this has been the case. I am not afraid to be humbled when I am wrong. I am not afraid to put my name and face behind the words and ideas that I speak.

Racism is a tool. It is a tool used to keep us at the bottom separated so we will continue our life's mission of doing our part to create wealth for the empire. That's the way it is in civilized society, and their is a heirarchy to our alleged freedom. We as whatever race, will fight with other races of folks instead of gathering together and fighting the real monster which is empire, which the United States IS and ALWAYS HAS BEEN. So, we are thrown a few scraps by our masters and fight amongst ourselves using the masters tools so he doesn't have to protect himself from us.

So, let's get it on here, because that was some of the most disrespectful behavior I have seen by a human being. Trying to get his agenda of a race war going taking advantage of the murdering of a young man by a cop man. That kind of racism sickens me, assholes with their personal agenda of starting race wars using the death of such a young man for their own advantage, and also spreading lies to that effect as well.

So, let's get to it, folks. Let's start our racism arguments and blah blah blah....

Picture if You Will...

I did a little photo shoot out in Charleston of a boat drydock. These boats are in various sorts of repair/disrepair. Some, you can see in the photos, are far beyond repair. I found the place quite fascinating. They are bits and pieces of history. Things you don't often see. Click on the photo and check out my photos blog if you wanna see the rest of the pictures.

Good Morning

Make A Wish

Good Morning

Good Morning 2

Good Morning 3

I haven't been feeling all that creative since we've moved to Coos Bay. Or, maybe that part of me is taking a break. Or, maybe that part of me is growing or changing somehow.

One thing I know for sure is that I haven't been able to write much poetry down here. The words of a poem used to SLAM into my skull and demand to be written on the page. I barely write one line now. The poem I wrote about my work recently on this blog is more of an essay than a poem. I tried to force it into poem form. Shusli caught that, too.

There is definitely not a lot of culture in Coos Bay. There are no Greek Festivals, no Homowa celebrations, no Polish Festivals, not a whole lot of culture is celebrated down here. In fact, not a whole lot of anything is celebrated down here. They have a farmers market on Wednesdays in the early afternoon. The life force here is different compared to Portland. There isn't as much celebration of life by the community. At least nothing that I've noticed. "The Mill" casino has a few events, but it's a casino and we've been treated rather rudely there.

My creativity is still there. Some of it is in a different form, like helping the folks I care for at work.

I really like my work, too. It is an awesome job. I got a smile from a resident who is semi-comatose yesterday.

The ocean air here is nice. Our backyard is pretty cool, which is where those photos came from. I definitely don't feel a lack of creativity. There is a lack of culture here. It's kinda like the town is half asleep.

Oh, and y'all haven't forgotten about that child rapist defending, child rape victim/survivor hating democratic senator from Massachusetts, JAMES FAGAN, have ya?

And y'all still think that genocide and AIDS loving, gay hating, racist senator, Jesse Helms, is still the piece of shit that he was and in his dead memory, still is, right?

...the only...

I hear a lot of people say, "the only way this..." or "the only way that..."

"The only way" to achieve peace is to quote Gandhi a lot.

"The only way" to save the world is to bring down civilization.

"The only way" to eat an oreo...

"The only way" to salvation...

"The only" religion...

"The only..." A lot of folks seem to have the answer to many of the worlds problems. If we'd only listen to a few who have selected themselves as our personal saviors. Whether it be witnesses knocking on your door, non-Indians who have declared themselves savior of all Indians, anti-civs who say the only way to bring down civilization is to kill the right or at least large numbers of folks, peacenecks who say the only wat to peace is non-violence...there are a lot of folks out there who have the answer. The answers are not the same, but their answers are the only answers in their mind. Personally, I don't think so.

There are as many answers as there are people to think them up. There are more than that because many folks have more than one answer. Many folks could give a rats ass. But, if we are to survive the impending crash, the way I see it happening is if we share and care for each other, defend each other, and don't think that you are the holiest of all motherfuckers and have the only answer, because you don't. None of us do. We just need to be able to survive in a world where we have given all of our food, clothing, and shelter capability powers to folks we cannot see and use an economic system built on imagination.

There is no one answer. We are going to survive this up coming mess. It may be tough. Many may or may not die. We may or may not become closer as communities. The truth is, we just don't know. There are many things we can do. There are many things getting done. But what's more, there are no fucking saviors. You, are all born to save the world should you choose to do so. You are all equally endowed with the power to do so. You are NOT the only person with the power to do so. Look around you, there are a whole lotta folks with the same power you have. The choice is up to you whether or not you are going to use it.

Another Criminal Gets Away With a Long Life

Senator Jesse Helms as died. I don't know much about this fella, but I do know one thing:

When the U.S. signed the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1988 under genocidal war criminal Ronald Reagan's watch (40 years after it was drafted), the U.S. did so with exemptions. Those exemptions state that no U.S. citizen can be tried for the crime of genocide without express permission of the U.S. government. In other words, the exemptions state that U.S. law trumps international law. Basically, that is the same argument the Nazi's used at Nuremburg. One of the authors of the exemptions, known as "The Helms, Lugar, Hatch Exemptions," was, of course, Jesse Helms. So when you hear all over the news that the great Jesse Helms has died, I will remind you otherwise. He was a criminal who, sadly, did not live long enough for the U.S. citizenry to come to their senses, arrest and try him, and when he would have been found guilty...hanged him.

Allegations of Independence

Tomorrow the U.S. celebrates what they like to call "Independence Day," more commonly known as "July 4th." Folks in the states like to set off fireworks and start fires. Drunk and beligerent folks usually hurt themselves or others.

At work, the activities director, a woman, was putting up little U.S. flags all over the place. Decorations that looked like stiff pom poms with sparkly stars on the end; all red, white, and blue, of course. Wait a minute...! A woman?... What's a woman doing thinking she has independence? Women were considered more like property back then. Although women have the vote, and one ran for the democratic ticket for president, one is running for president, women still don't have "equal rights" in this nation. All women have now was gained by one helluva struggle that continued and continues far beyond a bunch of white males getting together and signing a document that gave propertied white males independence to protect their wealth.

As Indians, it wasn't mine and Shusli's independece they were fighting for. In fact, as the idealistic founding father, Thomas Jefferson put it, it was our extermination they were fighting for.

Black folks? PLEASE! Black folks were slaves. Not all of them at that time, but as time progressed and the conditions of black slavery worsened, it DEFINITELY wasn't the independence of black folks the "founding fathers" were allegedly fighting for.

Oddly, you can get the best fireworks from...Indians. Fireworks are mock warfare. Warfare...like Wounded Knee, Haditha, regime change, nuclear ambition, My Lai, Dresden, IBM...

Poor folks? WHAT THE FUCK? Founding father James Madison, and most of the rest of them, referred to the riff raff who weren't "propertied white males" as "beasts." Here in the land where equality is perpetually alleged to keep the "beasts" at bay (with their 253 channels and nothing to watch type "freedom"), the "beasts" far outnumber the masters, but the beasts have been carefully taught.

"...the ideals of the founding fathers..." are words often tossed about by many folks; left, right, up and down. Washington initially had to kill a bunch of his own troops because when they realized that they were fighting so wealthy folks didn't have to pay taxes to the king, they thought that was fucked up, and therefore had to be eliminated. Washington, upon leaving the white house, also robbed the national treasury. Alexander Hamilton wanted the government to be a kingdom and was only convinced otherwise when it was explained that the "beasts" would not have any authority in this nation.

The holiday, however, is usually good for sales. Folks in the U.S. like to buy stuff, and so businesses will put stuff on sale to encourage folks to buy more stuff. Stuff...that is what independence is all about, right?!

Starbucks On Every Corner...No More

The McDonald's of high end coffee, Starbucks, announced it will be closing 600 stores by the end of the year and only putting up 200 more the following fiscal year. The reason being, the poor economy. That means around 12,000 folks will be out of work...in this poor economy. That means the economy will be getting even poorer. Chili's, as you all know, has closed all but a couple of doors of their Willamette Valley restaurants. There are about 300 folks out of work beause of that.

I heard an NPR article yesterday that said small town USA is predicted to start draining. Why? The price of gas. The factories and businesses that originally built those towns are gone, most jobs having been shipped overseas by the corporations that owned them who wanted cheaper labor. So, most people in small towns commute long distances to work. With gas prices as high as they are with no sign of slowing down, folks are going to be moving into bigger towns and cities where there jobs are because they can't afford the commute.

The floods in the Midwest have brought corn production way down, and prices way up. Many products are made from corn syrup and other corn dirivitives. With prices skyrocketing there, that means food prices will go up. That may be pretty bad here, but imagine third world nations, as I've read on the TruthOut website, who will possibly be facing something close to, if not actual, famines. Imagine, as well, how horrible FEMA performed with Hurricane Katrina. The flood in the Midwest in '93 moved a whole lot of towns and FEMA did a lot of work actually taking care of the folks. FEMA under King Dick and co-King George is seemingly just an organization where the cronies of the King and co-King get to collect what looks like a legitimate paycheck. If they follow their clear and consistent pattern, the Midwest is fucked and the production levels of the farms there will not return to anywhere near the levels they once were.

Because of the collapsing economy, people are buying less with their credit cards, prompting banks to raise credit card interest rates, which will encourage more people to buy less with their credit cards.

Speaking of credit cards, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are basically built on credit. That means money is taken out of the economy but based on nothing. That has to be taken from somewhere...how about the infrastructure of this nation. Turns out there isn't enough money to repair roads and such here in the U.S. Not only that, the U.S., along with it's Middle East pitbull, Israel, plan on starting ANOTHER genocidal and illegal war with Iran. This, too, will take billions, and not long after that trillions out of our economy, but also slaughter many thousands, if not MILLIONS, of civlilian lives in an attempt to enrich the already overly wealthy oil corporations of this nation. That means...LESS INFRASTRUCTURE HERE.

Here in Coos Bay, we are already seeing small businesses go under. No doubt there are small businesses going under all over this nation. That means less jobs, less disposable income, more poverty, more foreclosures on homes, more banking problems, etc.

Although all of this may sound more horrifying than living in Stephen King's imagination, we are going to survive this as human beings. This brings up the question of HOW are we going to survive this? There will be no stopping gas and food prices from rising. What are we going to do about it?