The deception we see...

I was driving the other day and not really paying attention to anything other than the road when this commercial caught my ear. Basically, it was talking about a Air Force surveillance aircraft that picked up an enemy target and sent an electronic signal to an Army ground unit who relayed instructions to a Navy fighter to take the target out. Then it finished with some snazzy catchphrase like, "Netcentric Warfare brought to you by Northrop Grumman."

I had been hearing this radio ad and others like it quite a bit over the last year. Then I got to thinking about the fact that I had been seeing a lot of television and newspaper ads for military contractors over the last few years. On the subway, on the sides of buses, in magazines, basically everywhere I go I see ads for the big military contractors. I don't seem to remember a lot of commercials for these types of companies until the last couple of years. I just don't think that these companies could have marketed themselves or their products so aggressively unless we as Americans hadn't gotten so conditioned to war, warfare and the images associated with both.

Certainly many of us had heard of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Grumman and these big companies, but they were back-burner companies when it came to the workings of most of our daily lives - we knew they existed, but they weren't household names until NBC Nightly News and CNN brought their products into our living rooms.

Then I got to thinking about it and I found myself asking the question: "Is the deception we SEE, the truth we DON'T?"

Honestly I don't know if that question is sheer genius or the definition of stupidity, but none the less it made me look deeper at this awful war that an unfit President and a Congress that is so busy trying to keep their jobs that they don't want to do their jobs - has gotten us into.

First, everyone in the White House was bent out of shape over Iraq's ignoring certain UN resolutions, and then Bush excited over Weapons of Mass Destruction, and then suddenly Bush told us that WE had to liberate the people of Iraq, and I think now we are, uh, let me see... fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here. I'm sure there have been some other reasons for this war, but they'll come to me later.

However, I think my eyes are opened a little wider now. Surely we all know that Bush and Cheney and their supporters want access to that precious middle eastern oil, but I think even more than that, Bush wants to make his economic base, his economic supporters even wealthier by financing the military manufacturing industry of this nation.

It is no secret that WAR is great for a country's economy, at least for corporate side of the economy. Employment in related fields go up, raw materials are needed and gobbled up, technology goes through the roof - Industry Fat Cats laugh their way right to the bank! In the last six years, Northrop Grumman stock values have gone up nearly 100%; Lockheed Martin stocks have gone up over 150%; and United Technologies [the parent company of Pratt and Whitney who manufacture most of the military aircraft engines] has seen its stock rise by over 200% in the same period! The people behind our President - the people that funded his campaign for the White House, the people that he publicly called "his base" must now be repaid and thanked properly and what better way to do that than to give them a war, a war that has pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into non-competed military contracts; a war that has built up massive numbers of tanks and jets and bombs, guns and bullets, and SOMEBODY has to make them! And then we have the support contracts from companies like Blackwater and the infamous Haliburton [who has since taken all of their tax generating income to the country of Dubai!!!] who are making billions of dollars with each passing year of our war in Iraq! There are actually more US contractors in Iraq than there are US soldiers and Marines!!! Somebody is GETTIN' PAID!!!

So, we not only went to war for a Presidential vendetta, and not only did we go so that powerful people behind the scenes in our country can take a large stake in the global oil reserves - but, we went to war because our political leaders wanted to make the rich in this nation richer, they wanted to fund the mighty American war industry and they wanted George Bush to go out of the White House as the most generous president to corporate interests EVER - and they were willing to fuel it and finance this with the blood of our brave men and women.

I'm not finished with this one yet...

TTBM

Could this change the world???

Every so often, I come across something that just blows me away. Today is one of those times.

There is a man who has made a discovery that could very well change the world, provided he is not a fraud. His discovery could change the world as we know it unless the powerful people who are undoubtedly lining up against him as I type this bury him. Our world could change FOR THE BETTER, provided, armies of lobbyists are stopped in their tracks THIS VERY MOMENT before they can start poisoning the minds of our fragile congressional representatives.

This article was taken from yahoo.com:

Radio Frequencies Help Burn Salt Water
By David Templeton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

ERIE, Pa. - An Erie cancer researcher has found a way to burn salt water, a novel invention that is being touted by one chemist as the "most remarkable" water science discovery in a century.
John Kanzius happened upon the discovery accidentally when he tried to desalinate seawater with a radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer. He discovered that as long as the salt water was exposed to the radio frequencies, it would burn.

The discovery has scientists excited by the prospect of using salt water, the most abundant resource on earth, as a fuel.

Rustum Roy, a Penn State University chemist, has held demonstrations at his State College lab to confirm his own observations.

The radio frequencies act to weaken the bonds between the elements that make up salt water, releasing the hydrogen, Roy said. Once ignited, the hydrogen will burn as long as it is exposed to the frequencies, he said.

The discovery is "the most remarkable in water science in 100 years," Roy said.

"This is the most abundant element in the world. It is everywhere," Roy said. "Seeing it burn gives me the chills."

Roy will meet this week with officials from the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense to try to obtain research funding.

The scientists want to find out whether the energy output from the burning hydrogen — which reached a heat of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit — would be enough to power a car or other heavy machinery.

"We will get our ideas together and check this out and see where it leads," Roy said. "The potential is huge."

Information from: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Now, I must admit that I haven't researched this thing too much, but over the next few days I'm going to use the link on this blog (to the right) to E-Mail my representatives on The Hill to aid the research of this discovery. Provided it is legit, this could end global warming, cut greenhouse gases down to next to nothing, wipe air pollution off of the map and give our children, grand children and dozens of more generations a world with clean clear air, clean water and endless fuel.

TTBM!!!!

That queezy feeling...

You know that feeling you get just before a first date?

You know how you've met this person and you're all excited over whether or not this person could be THE ONE?

They look good, they've got a great smile, they say the right things, they've got that twinkle in their eyes that makes you wonder... "Are they as special as I think they are?"

In the hours leading up to the Big Date, you have butterflies in your stomach, your chest is kinda' tight, your thoughts and mind are all over the place, you can't think of much else. You just want to get to the date and see what's what?

That's how I feel right now.

Me and 500,000 REDSKIN fans all across this country!!!

We are queezy with anticipation as the first kickoff of our new season approaches. Is Jason Campbell going to be something special? Is Clinton Portis going to rush for 1600 yards? Is the defense going be number one against the run? Are we gonna' crush some teams this year? Is Joe Gibbs FINALLY gonna' live up to the hype? Are glory days going to be upon us again?

Lord knows I want the answer to be "YES" to all of these. But sadly I'm a realistic pessimist. The answer to most of these is going to be "NO" and the worst part is, I'm still going to be there for all 16 weeks. I bleed burgundy and gold. And for the last decade or so - I've been bleeding a lot.

I'm still lost in the glory days of the past... Theismann throwing touchdowns, Riggins blowing across the goal line, Green intercepting balls and jetting into the endzone, Mann pressing opposing quarterbacks out of the pocket, Marshall crushing opposing running backs, Manley bruising his way through the line, Williams and Rypien leading us to The Promised Land, Big Tre' shuttin' defenses down... it's all still with me.

Every year for the last ten years I find myself threatening to become a Colts fan 'next season' because I get tired of the same old "Skin's collapse." I get tired of the stupid holding penalty; the dumb interception, the foolish fumble; the damned delay of game penalty - all of the avoidable stuff that puts one in the right hand column. Every year.

And yet, I'm here again - hours before kickoff and the butterflies are in my stomach. I'm still burgundy and gold and ready to bleed - again. As usual, I'll be ready on Sunday with a some Heineken, hot dogs, Fritos and band-aids.

Lets do it!

My prediction: Skins 17 - Dolphins 13