WMail #66: "Cooling The Planet"

the latest issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "Cooling The Planet", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay66.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006d.htm#66

the topic of the last issue was "Being Thankful (Post-Election)", and the January issue will be on the topic "The Distinction Power"

each issue is posted online – see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm and the essays are also posted separately – see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm; quotations are posted by author at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free ezine via email here

WMail #65: "Being Thankful (Post-Election)"

the November issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "Being Thankful", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay65.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006d.htm#65

the December issue will be on the topic "Cooling The Planet".

the October issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the last issue's essay topic was "The War In Iran", and it is posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay64.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006c.htm#64

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author –
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free WMail ezine via email here

Xmas Gifts For Republicans

The Republican Party may have gotten its collective feelings hurt from the election, so we should take care this holiday season to give them distinctive and personally relevant Xmas gifts.

★ G.O.P. Party Mix: a colorful mix of OxyContin, meth & Viagra in a large brandy snifter

★ A personal paper shredder, useful at home and in the office

★ A book on international extradition law

★ "I'm really a Democrat" bumper sticker

★ The book "Federal Prison On $50 A Day"

★ A drug/alcohol rehab media kit

★ Audio tape of "A Book of 1000 Excuses"

★ PhotoShop graphic (8" by 10") of the giftee shaking hands with Bono, and another with an arm around Al Gore

★ T-shirt set: on the front of each is either the Enron or Halliburton logo or the Iraq flag or the G.O.P. elephant, and on the back of each it says "I'm with stupid"

★ The book "Oversight For Dummies"

Martial Law?

Whether today's national election restores Constitutional rule or not may be moot.

If the Democrats win enough seats in Congress to reorganize with themselves as the majority party, there is still something like 60 days before that happens.

Dubya has enough followers behind the fascist P.N.A.C. agenda that he might be fool enough to declare martial law across America before January. Whichever way the election goes: if the Dems win, Dubya is in a corner; if the G.O.P. wins, the fascists have free rein. Any excuse, such as an airplane hijacking or truck bombing, up to Pearl Harbor Three, is all Dubya needs – as his only possible escape from impeachment and charges of treason, illegal spying, war profiteering, embezzlement, and a string of further felony crimes.

The key element here is Karl Rove's promise of 'boots on the ground' during the 72-hour lead-up to Election Day 2006. Rove reported sending 13,000 loyal 'field workers' to deliver Republican voters to precinct sites in Montana. Someone on progressive talk radio remarked yesterday that Montana doesn't have that many hotel rooms!

So what if 'boots on the ground' is literal? Let us not forget the Halliburton-built concentration camps: good locations for housing and feeding – and arming? – a legion of brownshirt minions. Scattered across America, some in every state, ready to fan out once martial law is declared.

Sure hope that this prediction fails to come true ...
However, "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance," and America has not been vigilant.

see Halliburton-K.B.R.'s smug press release dated 24 January 2006

Rumsfeld sold nukes to North Korea

Donald Rumsfeld, current U.S. Secretary of War, was on the board of the company that contracted for two light-water nuclear reactors in North Korea in 2000. He left that position to join the Bush administration. The company is A.B.B., headquartered in Zurich; the contract was for $200 million; the reactors are capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.

www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,952289,00.html

Dubya gave North Korea $95 million in April 2002 for their nuclear program, and at the same time waived inspections that were agreed to under the 1994 Agreed Framework, as set up by the Clinton administration.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1908571.stm

WMail #64: "The War In Iran"

the October issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "The War In Iran", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay64.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006c.htm#64

the November issue will be commentary on the election results.

the last issue's essay topic was "Bush & Blackmail", and it is posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay63.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006c.htm#63

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author –
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free WMail ezine via email here

FoleyGate: The Beginning of The End

While hoping to celebrate passage of the un-Constitutional 'Detain War Protestors Whenever We Want To Act' last Friday, the Republican Party has instead been forced to blow sanctimonious smoke at the American people over long-covered-up sex crimes within the Congressional Page Program.

A.B.C. News revealed the existence of a months-old complaint by a Congressional page about emails and instant messages from Congressman Mark Foley [R-FL]. The texts by Foley include explicit sexual content; the page is a 16-year-old male.

Congressman Foley immediately resigned from Congress early Friday. This leaves open his seat in Congress as well as his seat as co-chair of the House Caucus On Missing & Exploited Children {no kidding!}.

The emails were reported to Congress in July, then to the office of the House Speaker, then to the F.B.I., then to two Florida newspapers [St. Petersburg Times & Miami Herald], who all did nothing about the matter; finally, ABC reported the story at the end of September.

House Majority Leader John Boehner [R-OH] admitted that he was told of the problem six months ago; he reported the matter to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert [R-IL], who already knew about it at that time.

Nobody in Congress informed the police or the F.B.I. about the crimes, which are felonies.

Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington forwarded copies of the original emails to the F.B.I. in July 2006; the F.B.I. took no action.

It was policy at Congress for at least five years to warn new pages about Foley's practice of being 'overly attentive' to teen pages.

The F.B.I. has begun an investigation, and several politicians have already asked for an independent investigation by the U.S. Attorney General. (Cynics suggest that as soon as any investigation begins, the culprits will be 'required' to refrain from further comment 'because of the on-going investigation'.)

There are reports of recent checks for up to $100,000 paid to the R.N.C. or R.C.C.C. by Foley, which look a lot like a bribe to keep quiet.

Besides the actual crimes by Foley, he and Hastert and Boehner are liable for Federal charges of conspiracy (before and after the fact). Others already known to be involved include Congressmen Thomas Reynolds [R-NY] & chairman of the Page Board John Shimkus [R-IL], and Rodney Alexander [R-LA], who sponsored one of the page victims. Hastert, Boehner, Reynolds, Shimkus & Alexander are already given the title 'The Foley Five'.

The actual purpose of the cover-up was to retain Foley's congressional seat for the G.O.P., at the cost of further exploitation of under-age boys. (Other victims have come forward already.)

WMail #63: "Bush & Blackmail"

the September issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "Bush & Blackmail", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay63.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006c.htm#63

the October issue will be on the topic "The War In Iran"

the last issue was the Third All-Quotes Issue, along with a few news & comments items, and the issue is posted at
http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006c.htm#62

previous All-Quotes issues were WMail Issue #36 [October 2003] and WMail Issue #43 [May 2004]

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author –
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free ezine via email here

War News: Attacking Iran

In December of 2004, the White House ordered the Pentagon to design plans for the invasion of Iran.

Leaves were abruptly cancelled for sailors last weekend at Norfolk Naval Station, in order to prepare the U.S.S Dwight D. Eisenhower [CVN-69] for immediate deployment to the Persian Gulf. The super-carrier ‘Ike’ and its support ships carry ‘tactical nukes’ capable of delivery to targets in Iran.

The fleet is expected to arrive by mid-October [i.e. before the November U.S. elections].

UPDATE 11 October: Navy officers aboard the 'Ike' have expressed concern via emails to family & friends about going to the Middle East without a declaration of war by Congress – What will they do if Dubya orders them to attack without Congressional clearance?; in other conversations, folks are concerned that the 'Ike' is intended as a lure for an attack ala the 'Gulf of Tonkin incident' of August 1964

wanted poster 2006

Be very scared. And very angry.

The U.S. National Debt is now $8,521,310,000,000.

Not scared by that? The annual interest on that amount (at a ballpark 10%) comes to 850 BILLION dollars – compare that to the cost of the Iraq War, which is 'only' 310 billion dollars over three years. (So far, of course: this does not include off-budget costs, which could reach 2 trillion dollars.)

That interest money is being paid to the Oligarchy in America, from whom we receive no benefit, except their mis-management of everything. This is basically extortion money.

The personal share of the National Debt of U.S. citizens can be computed two ways:

1) Dividing by the current population of 300 million, this comes to $28,400 per person.

This figure has earned the term 'Birth Tax', because every newborn American is saddled with this debt at the moment that they draw their first breath.

So, a family of four owes $113,600. A married couple without children owes $56,800.

2) Dividing by the number of individual taxpayers (135 million), this comes to $63,120 per taxpayer.

In this computation, a family of four owes $126,240. But what is also true is that a married couple with no children likewise owes $126,240.

Nobody who voted for George Bush is exempt. Nobody who voted for John Kerry is exempt. Nobody who stuck their head in the sand and failed their duty as a citizen by not voting at all is exempt. Nobody in diapers is exempt. Nobody in a nursing home is exempt.

And nobody reading this who lives in the U.S.A. is exempt.

Now are you scared? But more importantly, you should be angry.

The Oligarchy has the money, and you all have the debt. And your children and grandchildren ...

Bush 43 is 'The Toxic President'

•• He increased the National Debt by 49% – a dollar amount larger than the prior 42 presidents combined.

•• He has destroyed America's reputation as any kind of Beacon of Freedom.

•• The entire world is mad at the U.S.A. for starting the War in the Middle East.

•• He refuses to comply with the Kyoto Treaty, and in fact supports pollution at every hand.

•• The average worker earns less, healthcare is a farce, and corporate executives are over-paid pirates.

•• War-profiteering abounds, and money for Katrina relief went to corporations – NOT to residents of the Gulf Coast.

•• The treasonous act of outing Valerie Plame and Brewster-Jennings destroyed the C.I.A.'s trust among the intelligence community.

•• Felonious wire-taps and secret data-mining schemes cause fear of expression among all Americans.

Regime change in November 2006 !!
Impeachment starts in January 2007 ...

WMail #62: Third All-Quotes Issue

the August issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the content is the Third All-Quotes Issue, along with a few news & comments items, and the issue is posted at
http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006c.htm#62

previous All-Quotes issues were WMail Issue #36 [October 2003] and WMail Issue #43 [May 2004]

the topic of the prior issue was "Non-Monetary Economics", and the September issue topic will be "Bush & Blackmail"

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author –
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free ezine via email here

London Terrorists

Various Letters to the Editor about the recent arrests of terrorist plotters in London were opining absent quite a few facts.

1) Dubya was briefed on the matter on the Friday before the Monday announcement (as well as on Saturday & Sunday).

2) Cheney & the talking heads spent the weekend spewing bilge on TV about the Democrats being 'soft on terror'.

3) The following weekend's interview shows were used to connect British police work (wrongly) to the Bush administration's illegal & un-Constitutional wiretaps & data-mining.

4) Dubya's claim for credit in making the arrests has no basis.

5) Although the Brits cooperated in announcing the arrests on the day before the Connecticut primary, the police are upset that they were forced to close in on the terrorist cell prematurely – it will be difficult to convict them because (a) they had not purchased airline tickets, and (b) they had not gotten their passports or visas.

Dubya's Third Term

Dubya's photo-op yesterday with Rockey Vaccarella of Louisiana was a fake, and quite scary.

1) Rockey was towing an 'honorary' F.E.M.A. trailer.
2) Rockey announced the trip beforehand.
3) Rockey is a Republican candidate for office in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
4) The script, probably written by Karl Rove, included Rockey's gushing wish that Dubya would have another four years to 'help' victims of Hurricane Katrina (conveniently avoiding the fact that Dubya caused the flooding & subsequent F.E.M.A. fiasco).
5) The 22nd Amendment, passed in 1951, limits the president to two terms.

The scary part is that Dubya will have a big problem running for a third term as an impeached felon, so this trial balloon from Rove points to a pre-emptive declaration making Bush 43 the first fascist dictator of the United States, with his 'third term' being permanent.

Expect this to happen shortly after the Democratic victories in November 2006 and before the Democratic House & Senate convene in January 2007.

WMail #61: "Non-Monetary Economics"

the July issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "Non-Monetary Economics", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay61.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006b.htm#61

the topic of the prior issue was "Climate & Politics", and the August issue topic is still to be determined

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author –
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free ezine via email here

economics tidbits #3

The current U.S. consumer & government debt is now $41 trillion; this combined debt has increased more in the last 16 years than in the previous 200 years.
— gold-merchant interviewed July 2006 on Ed Schultz radio show

"Taxation above 19% shrinks government and taxation below 19% makes government grow."
— Jonathan Rauch, in Atlantic Monthly June 2006

"95% of Fortune 500 companies pay less than 5% in taxes."
— David Sirota

"Cut and run? The Republican policy is to cut taxes for the wealthy and run up the National Debt."
— G.E. Nordell

WMail #60: "Climate & Politics"

the latest issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "Climate & Politics", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay60.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006b.htm#60

the topic of the last issue was "The Distinction Source", and the July issue topic is still to be determined

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free ezine via email here

WMail #59: "The Distinction Source"

the latest issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "The Distinction Source", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay59.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006b.htm#59

the topic of the last issue was "The 51% Solution", and the June issue will be on the topic "Climate & Politics"

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free ezine via email here

new Albuquerque, New Mexico movie studios

Heard today about the recent news of a movie studio deal for the westside of Albuquerque, NM.

It turns out the Albuquerque Journal newspaper printed an article on May 20 that the involved parties are not willing to verify. The facts from public documents are that the independent City of Rio Rancho is developing a huge government & shopping & sports complex called City Center, and that Lion's Gate Entertainment {site requires Flash} has been making deals with local entities for 52.8 acres just north of City Center, for construction of a first phase of 'three sound stages, two backlots, and production offices'. The plan projects five permanent employees and as many as 400 local full-time jobs (crafts people, security, production workers, etc.).

A studio facility is also planned for the 27-acre property where the long-unused Santa Fe Railroad shop facilities are located, in the Barelas barrio area (also known as Mesa del Sol) south of Downtown Albuquerque. Partners in that deal, announced in October 2005, are Pacifica Ventures (owners of Culver Studios in Los Angeles), Digital Media Group, and local developer Union Development Corp. The mixed-use project will include six sound stages, a unique 200,000 sq-ft indoor backlot, and office & retail & housing space.

UPDATE July 25:
Albuquerque [NM] Tribune July 24 article
Hollywood studio spotlights Mesa del Sol plans
Albuquerque [NM] Journal July 25 article
Albuquerque Studios Work Gets Started

UPDATE June 2007:
The Albuquerque Studios facility is open for business.

UPDATE Nov 2008:The deal for a Lionsgate Studio to be built in Rio Rancho is officially expired.

Above The Law

The evidence that George Dubya Bush and his co-conspirators are and have been holding themselves above the law is mounting:

The New York Times first revealed the N.S.A. program of warrantless wiretapping of U.S. phone calls & data-mining of phone company records in December 2005.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy

More indictments are pending by Special Prosecutor Patrick 'Bulldog' Fitzgerald in the Valerie Plame C.I.A. leak 'Treasongate' scandal.
Working Minds Timeline of the TreasonGate Cover-Up

Bush on May 5th quietly issued a presidential memorandum that was published on May 14th under the innocuous title "Assignment of Function Relating to Granting of Authority for Issuance of Certain Directives: Memorandum for the Director of National Intelligence". The memo gives 'executive power' to Director of National Intellligence John Negroponte to absolve any corporation from requirements to file reports to the S.E.C. or I.R.S. in the name of 'national security'. The existence of this shadow power move was revealed by
Business Week Online on May 23rd.

On April 30th, the Boston Globe published its research detailing the 750+ signing statements issued by Bush, saying that he will not enforce or obey those laws as passed by Congress.
www.boston.com/.../2006/04/30/bush ...

The Federal Reserve discontinued publication of the M3 monetary aggregate report in February 2006. The M3 Report was the primary indicator of the size of the money supply, i.e. the amount of money in circulation. The value of the M3 doubled in the prior 9 years, which no other part of the economy has matched – a certain cause of inflation. (The fiscally irresponsible Bush administration has also doubled the U.S. National Debt since he took office.) It is natural to presume that the M3 report was eliminated so that further inflationary moves will be hidden from public view.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/20060330/h6.txt

Working Minds 'Stopping George Dubya Bush' Page

economics tidbits #2

"In 2005, there were 9 million American millionaires, a 62% increase since 2002." — Mother Jones Magazine May/June 2006

"Adjusted for inflation, the federal minimum wage has fallen 42% since its peak in 1968." — Mother Jones Magazine May/June 2006

"Two-parent families are spending 16% more time at work, or 500 hours a year, than they did in 1979." — The Nation May 2006

Due to the rise in metal prices (especially zinc), the cost of making a U.S. penny is now 1.4 cents and the cost of making a nickel is now 5.73 cents.

U.S. Elections of 2006

Most U.S. local & state primary elections are June 6th; the national/general election is November 6th.

Any U.S. citizen who does not vote in the 2006 Primary and 2006 General Elections surrenders the right to call him-/herself an American.

It is time to take the country back from the Carlisle Group, Halliburton, Kellogg-Brown-Root 'petroleum industrial complex' that pulls the strings attached to mouthpiece-puppet George Dubya Bush.

The impeachment of Bush & Cheney hinges on the people's will, expressed in the June 2006 Primary Elections – replacing all G.O.P. candidates and fellow-traveling Democrats – and in the November 2006 General Elections.

Your country is calling for action, for a New Revolution, for a stand to defend and protect the U.S. Constitution against the fascists running the Bush Administration.

A new 2006 U.S. National Elections Page has been added on the Working Minds website; it will be updated regularly.

Rove indicted

word is out that on Friday {May 12th} Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald handed warrants to Karl Rove's lawyers specifying indictments of Rove for perjury and obstruction of justice

update May 27: nothing has since happened on this, which seems to be connected to the indictment itself being secret; no 'U.S. vs. Rove' case was filed that day, but there is a 'Sealed vs. Sealed' filing; what is going on? conjecture has it that Fitzgerald's boss ordered the secrecy

update June 13: Rove's lawyer stated that Rove will not be prosecuted, based on a letter from Fitzgerald; Fitzgerald's office declined to confirm or deny the statement.

wholesale price of gas

According to the governor of Montana, he and the governers of Wyoming and North Dakota set up a coalition and met with in-state oil producers to ramp up production of crude oil a couple weeks ago. The producers agreed. Turned out the bottleneck up there is the pipeline to the refineries.

The pipeline people offered the independent American oil producers $32 a barrel! – during a time when crude oil on the world market is over $70 a barrel.

Price-gouging is a fact. And Gov. Schweitzer has asked his Attorney General to investigate: see PDF file of memo.

(based on an interview with Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, heard on the Ed Schultz radio show Thursday 4 May 2006)

price of gas + boycott

the average price of gas/petrol when George Bush was anointed President was $1.46 per gallon; the current price (5 years later) is an average of $2.91 per gallon, an increase of 100% [from the A.A.A. in April 2006]

while many pooh-pooh the idea or effectiveness of a boycott, the chain emails in support of a boycott of Exxon-Mobil are an angry response to the unconscionable windfall profits that Exxon-Mobil and the others of the U.S. oil monopoly have taken out of your pocket

the bottom line about the boycott is that it won't hurt to drive past Exxon-Mobil's retail locations and buy from another brand – the message may get delivered if enough join in; the Valero-Shamrock C-store in my town keeps their pump price several cents lower than the others, so Shamrock is my usual fill up anyway

drugs and execution

most current methods of execution are rough on the recipient, which is not a surprise since the purpose is to kill the person sentenced to death by the legal system; the newer methods of execution by injection are hardly better than electrocution or hanging or the firing squad (drawing and quartering has been out of favor for a while)

here's a better method for execution of criminals: inject them with heroin, which is a natural substance for which the human body has receptors, which is why getting hooked is so difficult to undo

the use of heroin for executions has two benefits over the other methods: first, the experience for the executee will be rather pleasant, actually, and the overdose no less lethal, which removes the complaints about cruelty

secondly, kids and others considering or being pressured to try a little 'pop' of heroin – no big deal, you can quit any time, no real harm done – will be clear that heroin is used to execute criminals because heroin is very, very lethal

June 2nd Bomb Testing

Hidden from public knowledge until a few days ago, the Pentagon is preparing to test a gigantic open-air explosion at the Nevada Test Site, location of most of America's prior nuclear testing. The explosion in Area 16 of Yucca Flat is expected to create a mushroom cloud visible from Las Vegas. The 'bomb' is being constructed of chemical fertilizer and diesel fuel, the same ingredients as the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City, placed into a 30-foot deep hole.

The code name for the test is 'Divine Strake'; the name alone is enough to make anyone worried. ('Strake' is the term for a plank on the hull of a ship or boat, as in the lapstrake hulls of Viking sailing ships; modern usage is for certain devices on an aircraft fuselage to increase air-speed.)

The Nevada Test Site is located roughly 65 miles (north & west) from Las Vegas and roughly 35 miles (south & east) from the controversial Yucca Mountain storage facility – the tunnels intended to house spent fuel rods from nuclear energy plants along with all manner of other radioactive waste for all of eternity.

DETAILS

The explosion is rated at 700 tons, which is 700 times larger than the biggest conventional (non-nuclear) bomb in the U.S. arsenal.

The maximum payload of the workhorse B-52 bomber is only 35 tons, the C-5A cargo plane carries only 145 tons, so there is no way to deliver such a gigantic conventional bomb.

The explosion is expected to stir up kilotons of dust & dirt, likely containing radioactive fallout from all those Cold War nuclear experiments – which is of course denied by the Pentagon.

CONCLUSIONS

This test is using conventional weapons to see how much damage will occur from a small 'tactical' nuclear weapon, as is planned for Dubya's upcoming unprovoked assault on Iran.

You can expect that the attack on Iran will be timed to skew the Congressional elections in November, and the term 'October Surprise' (invented by 'Tricky Dicky' Nixon) is most apt.

SIDE NOTE
When George Dubya Bush was a child, he took pleasure in stuffing firecrackers up the anus of live frogs and then lighting the firecracker. 'Divine Strake' is more of the same pathology.

UPDATE May 10
Members of the Shoshone Tribe and others living east of the Nevada Test Site – 'downwinders' – filed suit in Las Vegas federal court to halt the 'Divine Strake' bomb test; the test has been postponed until June 23rd. The protest group is the Western Shoshone Defense Project.

UPDATE May 27
The National Nuclear Security Administration has buckled, since they cannot provide evidence to back up the Finding of No Significant Impact for the proposed mock atomic test. 'Divine Strake' is indefinitely postponed until a revised Environmental Impact Report can be produced.

UPDATE August 3
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency announced that the 'Divine Strake' non-atomic bomb test is postponed until at least 2007, possibly in a different location.

{For a historical perspective on America's atomic past,
visit the Atomic U.S.A. Page at Spirit of America Bookstore}

TreasonGate Timeline updated

The first version of the Working Minds TreasonGate Cover-Up Timeline was included in Issue #53 [July 2005] of the Working Minds 'WMail' ezine, and also posted online as Essay #53.

As subsequent events reveal more pieces of the cover-up, this new page will be the location of ongoing updates regarding George Dubya's path to impeachment!

The page http://www.working-minds.com/TreasonGate.htm was updated this week.

WMail #58: "The 51% Solution"

the latest issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "The 51% Solution", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay58.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006a.htm#58

the topic of the last issue was "Civil Disobedience", and the May issue will be on the topic "The Distinction Source"

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free ezine via email here

feature film "Black Billy"

started the Landmark Education seminar on Creativity (for the 4th or 5th time) on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I wrote the outline for a movie; (any day that I write is an excellent day, the days in between are just days in between)

New Mexico has a unique attitude about their outlaws and lawmen – Billy the Kid, the Lincoln County Wars, Elfego Baca, Blackjack Ketchum, the Bowdres – that shows up in the local media etc, an attitude of mostly pride, some nostalgia, and overall 'this is what New Mexicans are like'

I'll call this screenplay "Black Billy" because it is a noir Western tale, with the noir structure and the noir stance of inevitable doom: there is nothing Billy can do to prevent his too-certain fate, and he knows it — think Peckinpah

WMail #57: "Civil Disobedience"

the latest issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "Civil Disobedience", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay57.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006a.htm#57

the topic of the last issue was "State of Emergency", and the April issue will be on the topic "The 51% Solution"

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free ezine via email here

economic tidbits #1

"The number of people living in extreme poverty [in America] is the highest ever recorded since the census Bureau began tracking such data three decades ago."
— Eyal Press, in The Nation Magazine

"American households experienced negative savings [in 2005] – they spent $42 billion more than they earned – for the first time since 1933, the depths of the Great Depression."
— William Greider in The Nation Magazine (20 Feb 2006 issue)

"The personal savings rate in 2005 [was] minus 0.5%, the first year since the Great Depression that Americans spent more than they made."
— Time Magazine (13 Feb 2006 issue)

"The number of manufacturing jobs in the United States has fallen all the way back to the level it was in 1945."
— Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky [Dem IL]

"By most conventional measures, especially job growth, the Bush years have been the worst of any president in the last fifty years ... Since the recession ended at the end of 2001, corporate profits are up 81 percent, while the wages that corporations pay their employees are up just 18%, a ratio of over four to one ... We're some ten million jobs below where we should be, based on historical averages."
— Doug Henwood, The Left Business Observer [est. 1986]
& The Washington Spectator

Working Minds 'Boycott W-9 Project'

The Forces of Endarkenment are on the brink of provoking Pearl Harbor III sometime in 2006. (September 11 was the curiously convenient Second Pearl Harbor.)

While we may have 'nothing to fear but fear itself', events around the world and within America are cause for great concern, frustration and worry. Detention camps are being built across America by Halliburton, war plans move forward for air attacks on Iran, the Rangel-Hollings Bill lurks offstage, the budget deficit sets records, the National Debt has risen beyond legal levels, and Americans are losing jobs and trying to survive on their equity or meager savings.

Folks who pay attention to non-propaganda news sources are looking for ways to act, to restore Constitutional powers to Congress (such as oversight), and to halt the lies & deceit & unwarranted secrecy, the war crimes and bribery, the greed & torture & death, the widespread abuse of power that is the stock in trade of the Bush Administration.

The new 'Working Minds Boycott W-9 Project' includes steps to take back your power, to assert your freedom as an Individual, to voice your disgust & disdain & disapproval of the way that America is headed – leaping and bounding toward an economic tsunami, toward widespread religious wars, toward ecological disaster, toward the sale of America and Americans to the lowest bidder.

The new website URL is http://www.BoycottW9.org
(which redirects to http://www.working-minds.com/boycottW9.htm )

Visit the site & begin your participation in the boycott ...
then copy & paste this to everyone in your address book

Fight tyranny: Regime change in November 2006 !!

boycott the Oligarchy

this new website includes simple steps for bringing the Bush-Cheney-Rove Imperial Presidency to account for their treasonous disregard for the U.S. Constitution & its guarantees of privacy, representational government & due process

http://www.boycottW9.org
which redirects to http://www.working-minds.com/boycottW9.htm

Regime change in November 2006 !!

Google™ has a philosophy

The Google philosophy:
1. Focus on the user and all else will follow
2. It's best to do one thing really, really well
3. Fast is better than slow
4. Democracy on the web works
5. You don't need to be at your desk to need an answer
6. You can make monëy without doing evil
7. There is always more information out there
8. The need for information crosses all borders
9. You can be serious without a suit
10. Great just isn't good enough
                   {{ from their website }}

Monopolies Я Us (part 2)

BROADCAST MEDIA INDUSTRY
"Five conservative companies own 90% of the media in America." — per talk show host Ed Schultz

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PERSONAL COMPUTER INDUSTRY
Microsoft has 90% of the personal computer market, though hundreds of other vendors make the products & get the revenue. Poor Apple/Mac is still only 10% of the PC market; their main business is now the fantastically successful iPod.

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PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
As for the U.S. petroleum monopoly, five companies control 56.3% of the market and the top ten companies own 83.3% (per January 2006 Senate testimony by Tyson Slocum of Public Citizen).

The breakdown for 2004 is as follows:
Conoco-Phillips et al 13%
Valero-Shamrock 12.8%
Exxon-Mobil 11.9%
Shell et al 9.8%
B.P. 8.8%
Chevron-Texaco-Unocal 5.9%
Citgo 5.8%
Marathon 5.5%
Sunoco 5.3%
Koch-Flint Hills 4.5%
... for a total of 83.3%, leaving independent oil companies with only 16.7% !!

another smoking gun

On February 2nd, U.K.'s Channel 4 News released the story of their having a copy of the classified transcript of the 31 January 2003 meeting of President Bush & British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House, where they agreed to provoke Saddam Hussein into military action that would justify an invasion of Iraq.

Portions of the classified transcript are online at http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-storypage.jsp?id=1661

Bush said that "The US would put its full weight behind efforts to get another {U.N.} resolution and would 'twist arms' and 'even threaten'. But he had to say that if ultimately we failed, military action would follow anyway."

Blair responded that he is "solidly with the President and ready to do whatever it took to disarm Saddam."

Extra credit question: How many times did you hear/see a report on this news item broadcast over the major media in the last week?

WMail #56: "State of Emergency"

the latest issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "State of Emergency", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay56.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2006a.htm#56

the topic of the last issue was "Joining the Circle", and the February issue will be on the topic "The 51% Solution"

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free ezine via email here

timely quotations

“Nothing is required for the triumph of evil but that good men do nothing.” — quoted by John F. Kennedy, often attributed to Edmund Burke, but actual origin unknown

“Anyone who votes for George Dubya Bush is dumber than he is.”
— G.E. Nordell (2004)

“If Dubya wins, America loses.” — G.E. Nordell (2004)

“Freedom exists in the exercise of it.” — G.E. Nordell

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.”
— Anaïs Nin [1903-77]

“I actually think [George W.] Bush is the greatest threat to life on this planet.” — Ken Livingston, Mayor of the City of London, U.K. (2003)

filibuster Alito

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." — Sinclair Lewis [1885-1951]

nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday January 31st before & during King George's 'State of the Union' speech: locations at the World Can't Wait website

World Can't Wait is holding a demonstration on Saturday February 4th in Washington, DC to march in protest to the White House: protest info

other events are listed at the Democratic National Committee website

SIGN THE FILIBUSTER PETITION at John Kerry's website
{signers' names will be entered into the Congressional Record by Sen. Kerry}

WMail #55: "Joining the Circle"

the latest issue of the free WMail 'Working Minds' philosophy & activism email newsletter is sent out, and also posted online

the essay topic is "Joining the Circle", posted online at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay55.htm; the full issue includes news & comments and a couple dozen quotations, and that is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WM2005b.htm#55

the topic of the last issue was "F*** the Fed" (opposing the Federal Reserve System), and the January issue will be on the topic "The 51% Solution"

each issue is posted online –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMailindex.htm;
and the essays are also posted separately –
see http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm;
the quotations are posted by author
at http://www.working-minds.com/WMquotes.htm

sign up for the free ezine via email here

State of the Union 2006

the U.S. Constitution is under a full to-the-death attack from the neo-con fascists, and the matter has reached a critical point, such that we may be living in a dictatorship before another month has passed

• • • the appointment of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court is a travesty, and a disgrace; the danger is obvious from his record, which includes the invention of the principles of 'unitary executive' and 'signing statements' and years of knee-jerk approval of anything that the Executive Branch or Big Business proposes; a filibuster by the Democratic Party seems to be the only route to preserving the Constitution

• • • Dubya's movement toward more & more actions based on the 'unitary executive' principle looks a lot like Germany in 1933: the burning of the Reichstag [27 February] is the equivalent of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center; our Patriot Act removed extant civil liberties as did the Reichstag Fire Decree; and the Democratic Party is removed from participation in the Legislative Branch (Hitler blamed the Reichstag arson on the Communist Party and had its leaders jailed)

• • • laws have no meaning for the Bush Gang, and laws they don't like are just interpreted as not binding on the Executive Branch; torture? war profiteering? malfeasance in office? perjury? bribery? warrantless surveillence?; if Dubya says it is okay, then the Constitution cannot stop him — how is that different from Saddam or Adolf or Stalin or any other dictator?

• • • Dubya stated proudly & publicly that he intends to continue to violate his own Patriot Act by wire-tapping American citizens without bothering to get even rubber-stamp FISO Court warrants — the scary & logical conclusion is that these wire-taps are illegal & indefensible even under FISO

• • • back in December 2004 Bush ordered the Pentagon to construct plans for an invasion of Iran, and Condi & Rumsfeld have recently pounded the war drums on the Sunday talk shows — a pattern: Bush ordered plans for invading Iraq in May of 2002, Condi & Powell & Rumsfeld testified falsely on camera for months, and the justified-by-falsehood invasion of Iraq began in March 2003

• • • America's finances are in disarray; George Dubya took office with a budget surplus and yet has in five years increased the U.S. National Debt by 42.8 percent {see counter on right side of blog homepage for the latest figure}

• • • the U.S. House of Representatives has been in recess since December 17th, an event without precedent in U.S. history for the year-end holiday break; the likely cause is the G.O.P.'s inability to sweep aside the DeLay & Ney & Taft & Abramoff scandals (no Democrats are involved); Republicans are scrambling for a diversion, such as the recent Osama tape, but have found none – the evidence is clear and the G.O.P. is losing credibility and fealty from even members of its own party in Congress

• • • be very alert to what Dubya says in his State of the Union speech on January 31st: Congress re-convenes that day at Noon; in the intervening week, the G.O.P. spin-machine will have a busy time preparing & sowing 'talking points' parsiflage to support Dubya's statements; I will not be surprised if the Bush Gang stages an emergency and declares martial law or some such thing, for there is no other way out of this political box-canyon — except impeachment or resignation

• • • the liberal-American majority does not want impeachment, because the cost to the Country is enormous, both politically and operationally; the other down-side is that Dubya's resignation gives us President Cheney; if both Bush & Cheney are impeached or forced to resign, that gives President Dennis Hastert [GOP-IL]; next in line is President Pro Tempore of the Senate Ted Stevens, the 'pork barrel king' of Alaska; fourth in line is [oh, shudder!!] Secretary of State Condi Rice, followed by Secretary of the Treasury John Snow and Secretary of War Donald 'Who Knows?' Rumsfeld — in all, a motley crew and not much better than King George; if I had to choose, I would cross my fingers and hope that Hastert is merely the Gerald Ford of the XXIst Century

• • • the mid-term elections are, however, a long way off; Hastert may not return to the House in November, and a Democratic majority in either House or Senate could tip the balance back toward democracy; the new Speaker might be Harry Reid [Dem-NV], which will be excellent; 'Bulldog' Patrick Fitzgerald is preparing further TreasonGate indictments, Jack Abramoff is confessing to a grand jury (giving at least 60 G.O.P. Congressmen and -women sleepless nights), and 'Scooter' Libby's trial starts in February – the Bush Gang is in a lot of battles that Dubya is destined to lose

I have said before that 'Freedom exists in the exercise thereof" and that still holds true; but such exercise gets harder and harder as the Bush Gang tightens its grip on the Culture-Structure and chops away further portions of America's unalianable rights and the Rule of Law

the rights that America has in November 2006 will be the ones that YOU do not give up, the ones that YOU stand for preserving

REGIME CHANGE IN NOVEMBER 2006 !!!

Monopolies Я Us (part 1)

Part of the hold that the Oligarchy has on the U.S. economy is the creation of not-quite-monopolies that control major industries here – with similar connections within the European Union and among the multinational mega-corporations around the globe.

A true monopoly is when one corporation controls all of an industry, or all of a product or commodity, and performs dastardly acts to stifle competition.

The mega-corporations of the XXIst Century are more subtle: half a dozen entities buy up a majority of an industry and merely work in concert to stifle smaller, independent companies. A key factor are the business barons who serve on the boards of many corporations – a kind of 'team-style' monopoly.

Perfectly legal: no violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, and other statutes. But the result is the same as a monopoly.

Data has so far been difficult to uncover; research continues. Even the Departments of Commerce and Transportation and Energy obscure such matters as 'gross annual revenue' by industry. For example, online statistics on the U.S. oil industry are displayed by barrels (of crude oil), not by annual revenue – that I have so far been able to locate.

Industries to be covered in this series of blog-postings include motion picture exhibition, book publishing, petroleum, railroad freight, self-storage, soda pop, and banking.

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MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITION INDUSTRY
The industry group N.A.T.O. {National Assn. of Theater Owners} says that 2004 box office for the U.S. was $9.53 billion dollars, with total U.S. screens of 36,652.

Statistics gleaned from their website show that the six largest corporations own 50% of the movie screens in America.

1 Regal of TN ............................ 6,264 ... 17.1%
2 A.M.C. + Loews ...................... 4,735 ... 12.9%
3 Carmike of GA ........................ 2,450 .... 6.7%
4 Cinemark of TX ....................... 2,347 .... 6.4%
5 Cineplex Galaxy of Toronto ....... 1,560 .... 4.25%
6 National Amusements of MA ..... 1,099 .... 3%
. . . . . . 18,455 screens ÷ 36,652 total = 50.4%!
7 Century Theatres of CA ....... with 985 = 2.6%
8 Kerasotes of Chicago .......... with 609 = 1.7%
9 Marcus of WI ..................... with 503 = 1.4%

Total box office revenue for 2005 looks to be $8.75 billion, which is down from $9.53billion in 2004. The obvious reasons are the stagnant economy and ticket prices, which only go up. Usually, ticket prices are raised in New York City, and within a week or two, prices go up across the country.

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WORLDWIDE SODA POP INDUSTRY

The Coca-Cola® Company, with all their various brands & flavors, sells 51% of the world soda pop market (February 2004).

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RAILROAD FREIGHT INDUSTRY

There are only seven 7 Class I railroads in the U.S.A., and according to Trains Magazine, they handle ninety-one percent of the railroad freight business, which in 2004 was total operating revenue of $40.5 billion. In Canada, the situation is similar, with large portions of C.N. and C.P. revenue coming from their U.S. subsidiaries.

{Figures below are in millions of U.S. dollars.}
Union Pacific ................ $12,215M
B.N.S.F. ....................... $10,946M
C.S.X Rail .................... $8,020
Norfolk Southern ........... $7,312
Kansas City Southern ...... $639.5
Grand Trunk {U.S division of CN} – (data not located)
Soo Line {U.S division of CP} – (data not located)

Canadian National ....... $5,457M
Canadian Pacific – (data not located)

Mother Jones Tidbit #2

"Union membership has collapsed from 35 percent of the labor force in the mid-1950s to a mere 7.9 percent in the private sector today ... The corporate share of the federal tax burden has declined in eerie lockstep with union membership – from 35 percent in 1945 to 10.1 percent in 2004."
— Dr. Gar Alperovitz, University of Maryland Professor of Political Economy

Tales of Hypocrisy

the U.S. taliban are hypocrisy personified

besides the camel/needle issue posted previously, there is the matter of 'doing unto others that which you would have done unto you'
such as:
— invading another country for mercenary profit?
— torture?
— electronic surveillence with no warrant?

the Rove-Cheney cabal survives by bearing false witness

the Oligarchy is giving less to Caesar than five years ago, working closer to giving nothing – they do not give to their god, their god is themselves and they only take

it is about time that the money-handlers were thrown out of the temple – Halliburton continues its monoploy on war profiteering and no-bid government patronage

the phrase 'Christian Republican' or 'Republican Christian' is an oxymoron