Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Year end post

As the year ends i am hopeful the next year will bring better things.My year has been very difficult and i am glad to put it behind me.I would like to be a better husband and father in the next year and will post progress as i go along to document my progress.Chronic pain and a heavy meds schedule has become very difficult and without major surgery i am told it will get no better.I am not ready for more surgery so coping with my life as is seems to be the only option.I don't know if i am going to become unable to handle it in the future,but right now i am going to concentrate on my family and hope for the best.I wish the best to everyone out there and hope the new year brings you peace,happiness,and prosperity.Until next time,thanks for reading. spacewalker

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

New Post

I am going to start posting again as best i can to document my struggle with chronic pain and my personal opinion about current events,political and otherwise.Here is a link to show what is happening to freedom of speech with the MSM and search engines http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=578557873620&oid=6499393458&comments&ref=mf

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

New Post and continuing blog....

I am at a crossroads here about what i should do with this blog.I love to write and have this place to put my thoughts down for all to see,but i am troubled by the fact that the company who allows this to happen is not living up to the standards it sets for itself.Allot of stories have come out over the last several months related to the future of the Internet,privacy,and users search histories.The first thing,the future of the Internet,seems to lie in the legislative branch of our Government.It is going to be up the Congress to safeguard a free and open Internet,and with the way things have been going there lately it is highly unlikely we can trust them with the task.Government and Internet Service Providers are already trying to prepare us for an Internet that is no longer free and open,but accessible on a tiered basis,with two different lanes of traffic.The Government is already trying to stop anonymity and the ability to encrypt communications.Next they will try to limit access to information under the false guise of "National Security."I for one have a few ideas about what to do related to these new impositions on privacy,and one of them includes abandoning my Internet connection and cell phone.This will limit me in my abilities to access information from home,but as this new attack on our privacy has shown,to ensure my privacy this may be my only option.
As far as Internet search histories are concerned,Google for one is keeping all information on all of its users searches supposedly to be able to target its paid advertisers content to only the folks who would be interested in it.Well if that is the case then i am sure they will realise they can stop targeting me with any advertisement at all as i refuse to view ads when they annoyingly pop up as i am reading news or watching or listening to chosen entertainment.As the advertisers are starting to realise,when folks are able to view television shows or movies without ads they choose that option by a wide margin.I am certain that is given the chance to remove commercials from their television most would choose to do so.I for one immediately change the channel when commercials are on in between segments of the shows i watch,and when it is political commercials taking most of the spots i can't flee the station fast enough.The folks who have tivo can just record their favorite shows and skip right over commercials while watching,but folks like me who have only antenna television do not have that luxury.There is allot more of this discussion that i will continue to post on it,but for now i am going to end here.Until next time,thank you for reading. spacewalker

Monday, August 16, 2010

Monday August 16th 2010

I haven't posted anything in a while as i have been having some major issues with my health but as of this post i will be getting back to blogging and posting things i feel need attention or archiving.This will be the first of many new posts,beginning with this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc Please view this and follow its advice,it mirrors something i was taught by my father who was an attorney,when i was a teenager.Until next time,thanks for reading. Spacewalker

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Saturday July 1st 2010

Well here we are in another month of the summer,and as usual it is flying past faster than i ever expected.The BP oil spill continues to flow into the waters of the gulf,the political polarization in the public sector continues and the gridlock in Washington is no closer to being resolved.How this country got so fractured and the economy got so broken is up for debate,but i know one thing for certain,the real number of unemployed in our nation is way higher than the 9.7 figure they keep telling us.Many folks aren't looking for work anymore due to the fact there just isn't any jobs out there to find,and both sides just keep slinging mud at each other saying its your sides fault we are in this mess.Well after they just allowed this jobs bill to falter hundreds of thousands of folks will be losing out on unemployment benefits that would have at the very least kept many more loans and mortgages from falling into the hole.As the repercussions ripple around the country from all these folks having no income to speak of,our leaders will be on vacation and not thinking about it at all.These folks on both sides of the isle deserve to be thrown out on their asses and fresh new faces need to come to the forefront to address the mess created by these corrupt thieves who currently hold not only Federal,but State and local Political office.
I have absolutely no faith in either party to address what is going on in any real way,and in this election year i am just waiting to see the ads begin to try and blame others for the mess.It is the red sides fault,no its the blue sides fault,no its the progressive liberals,no its the conservatives,blah blah blah.The system is so broken and corrupt that i hope that somehow the American people wake up to the fact that not one of the candidates being put forth are going to represent them in any way.These folks are bought and paid for long before they are elected,and because so many people have been lied to before i have some slim hope that either side will get an upper hand.They need to be forced into a position where compromise is the only way forward,but i won't hold my breath.The people of this nation have not been so fractured in decades,if ever.As the citizens continue to fall under the spell of over the top rhetoric and commercials that repeat the same old lies over and over,the small group of very wealthy contributors will keep the status quo in place.These Politicians cannot function without their money flowing to their campaigns,so for folks to argue details about divisive policy issues just makes no sense.Our system is not the greatest in the world as people always love to say,it is just as fake as the worst despotic horror shows that prop up dictators around the world.
The freedoms that so many have fought and died to protect are long gone,and in their place are a series of layers of deceptions put in place to seem to convince folks that we are in a very dangerous world and freedom and liberty need to be balanced against safety and securety.This is not at all the case,and since it is much to late to regain any semblance of our founders vision of a free democratic nation,we must accept the reality of what the powers we have allowed a few at the top to have leaves us with.No longer is there personal privacy,no longer is there any real freedom,and the "constitutional democracy" model is unsustainable in a modern computerised world.Any one of a giant complicated and venemous structure of what is called "security and law enforcement" on federal state and local level can find out anything and everything they want without oversite of what is a non functioning and broken corrupt judicial system.Money controls all in our broken system and it may already be much too late to rescue anything that may be left of a once grand and noble idea that we have been given by our forefathers.November is coming up fast and i am waiting to see what kind of mess we are left with after this next scam of an election.Anyways,until next time,thanks for reading. spacewalker

Thursday, June 10, 2010

`Wednesday June 23rd 2010


Today i will begin my post with some commentary about the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico.As i am sure readers are well aware this has been going on for 63 days and that it seems it will continue for some time to come.One thing i have noticed in the coverage of the spill is a lack of reporting on the ship traffic coming up the Mississippi River with imports.This is a huge over site on the part of the reporting on this disaster,because if these imports are forced to stop there is going to be a large disparate impact on the economy.There is a very large amount of imports that travel up the river that will not be coming anymore.This will be very bad for all the businesses that rely on these imports,not to mention the effects of oily ships fouling the waters of the river.I personally don't believe they will allow ships fouled with oil into the river but with the way things are going who can say.The Government has allowed so many things to happen i would have not believed,so i must assume this is possible.
The press has not covered this issue at all,so i don't know if the ship traffic has continued up to this point.Because of the horrible effects the oil is having on the environment of the coast and also in the gulf itself it seems to me this is one subject that is being completely ignored.Because approximately 70% of the seafood consumed in the US comes from the Gulf,business related to seafood will be dismal at best.I am afraid with BP being allowed to drag out the claims process for lost profits and wages,many thousands of Gulf Coast seafood related industry mainstays will be lost.This will include wholesalers,retailers and restaurants as well as fisherman who rely on the gulf for an income.The trickle down effect of this loss will mean the families of folks detrimentally effected will not have money to shop for groceries,clothing,and anything else for that matter.This will put many more folks into State and Federal sponsored emergency help like welfare and food stamps,overwhelming an already overburdened system.Food pantries already having trouble keeping up with the current needs related to the Great Recession will be completely and totally shut down.Religious institutions that also help care for the less fortunate will also be forced to turn away people because of the large amount of families in need.
As i write this the effects of the oil spill are just beginning to be felt along the coast,but it will spread faster than a California wildfire.The way our Federal officials are downplaying this is worse than criminal.They have always sided with big industry in order to fund the next campaign,and this will be no different.I hope that enough attention can be brought to bear that they will not allow this horrible catastrophe to move into the fresh waters of the Mississippi River,but i will not hold my breath.To stop the ship traffic coming up the river will be catastrophic in and of itself due to the volume of imports that are brought through the gulf waters into the Fragile Environment of the Mississippi,multiplying the horrible impact on all of different levels of wildlife.Taking the results of the oil spill into this place is going to put many more species in danger.Fresh water fish and fowl,animals that rely on them will cause a cascade of death through the food chain all through the whole length of the river.
Putting this economic and environmental disaster into the proper perspective entails knowing more about the MMS and other governmental over site of deep water drilling rigs and where when and how they are allowed to operate.There are many of these rigs deep in the waters of the Gulf,and now Senators and congressional representatives are screaming to allow them to continue to operate.How this economic and environmental catastrophe doesn't give people pause to reflect is beyond me.The horrible damage to the environment will continue for years and years but the folks on the coast are more concerned with allowing these irresponsible companies to continue to operate without any pause to take a look at the whole system.The way these leases are given out,the over site of the companies involved,the SAFETY of the rigs and the workers on them,ect.I don't believe for a second there are no concerns to the folks who are going to suffer the repercussions of the damage this is going to cause the coast.The wildlife is going to be damaged beyond any ones wildest imagination,and they want to just go on as usual with the rigs operating like nothing has happened.The MMS is a broken corrupt agency just like most levels of the Government itself.The agency has been staffed with Oil industry insiders since long before G.W.Bush was president.This is very common in our country for whatever the industry is,you can bet the regulation and over site body of the Government is going to be staffed with industry insiders.This is on top of the Lobbyists for whatever industry being staffed by former congressional staffers and actual retired members of the government.This particular agency,the MMS,is supposed to be being cleaned up by The Secretary of the Interior,Mr.Salazar,but i would bet my last dollar that it will be just as broken and corrupt after he reorganizes it.
Yesterday a Judge ruled against the current Administrations 6 month moratorium on deep water drilling,saying they acted arbitrarily and overstepped their authority.The Obama Administration has vowed to file an appeal to this ruling and will continue to push for more safety and over site of this dangerous and stupid practice that itself is admittedly unsafe due to the lack of any ability to stop catastrophic blowouts and no ability to contain such disasters from occurring.I for one hope that they finally realise that the only way to get Americans to wean off of fossil fuel is to FORCE us to take measures to do so.As long as we the people continue to demand fossil fuel for everything we do from driving to heating our homes this mess is going to just be the beginning.I am surprised it took this long to have such a major disaster when i look at the public records regarding the safety standards of this company BP.This company was on the verge of a discretionary disbarment from all Government fuel contracts when it reached a tentative compliance agreement with the EPA,which has since been taken off the table by the current administration.Being the largest producer of oil in the Gulf as well as in Canada and also being the owner of half of the Alaska pipeline from Prudhoe,any major disruption in this companies day to day operations could cost an already weak American economy to fall off the cliff.Around 30,000 of BPs 80,000 employees are Americans,and the company is also the largest supplier of liquid fuel to the American Military operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
To quote the famous line from the economist John Maynard Keynes,the one behind Keynesian economics politicians always talk about"Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men,for the nastiest of reasons,will somehow work for the benefit of us all",to me lays the truth right on the table.The current system of Politics in our country which is supposed to be the envy of the world,a Constitutional Democracy,is a failed and broken model that no longer represents we the people.It is more oriented toward business and corporate America,and the almighty dollar is at the center,not the citizenry.As long as things continue to go the way they are,the Country will continue to spiral downward out of control until something happens at the grassroots level to change it.We are not going to survive as we are,in my opinion,unless we reign in the out of control Politicians who have for too long allowed Corporate money to control our system.This is the reason we have this oil fouling our coastline in the Gulf,and it is also the reason we are no longer United as a people.We are arguing constantly about which side is right about issues no one can seem to agree on as the Politicians continue to allow us to be pilfered out of our children's future.I think it is very much like the old story of a man fiddling while Rome burned.
I will end here for now,until next time thank you for reading. Spacewalker

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Wedsday May 26th 2010

Today i will begin with a subject i found to be very interesting and upsetting to me.The subject is medical marijuana and legalization in general.I am unhappy because the Federal Governments propaganda campaign against this substance has gone on for decades.This deceitful attack is based on a failed "war on drugs"that was started long ago and has been proven to be a dismal failure.In order to continue keeping this substance as a schedule 1 on their list of illegal drugs the Federal government has created basically a terror campaign against the 14 states where it has been legalised for medical purposes.This includes a no tolerance position for federal housing projects,and a policy of threats and intimidation on VA doctors to keep them from prescribing this beneficial substance to veterans suffering from chronic pain and PTSD just to mention a few.I am going to write as much as possible on this subject and will research it to the best of my abilities.The DEA uses its enforcement power to continue arresting and incarcerating citizens by the tens of thousands for simple possession.This coming November there are many ballot initiatives involving this subject,and many states are addressing it through legislation.The states where it is already legalised it is in my opinion a travesty of justice for law enforcement to continue arresting and incarcerating
people for simple possession.This is because i believe that a large part of many law enforcement institutions derive huge sums of money from seizure and forfeiture related to arrests on marijuana charges.The loss of this income could seriously jeopardise their use of this money to continue their unfair attack on citizens freedoms.I personally believe that without being able to use marijuana as an excuse to search and seize peoples property and possessions they are going to lose literally millions if not billions of dollars of law enforcement budget funding.This forces Police Union Lobbyists in Washington to push not only the DEA but Congress to continue this failed campaign against the citizens of our nation.The fact that many traffic enforcement stops result in searches of vehicles revolve around an officers ability to overpower citizens constitutional rights against unlawful search and seizure by saying they smell marijuana or see something suspicious related to simple possession, allowing them to bypass fourth amendment protections.This has been going on for decades and has resulted in many lives being ruined,families being broken up,property and possessions being lost to the state and countless other unjust results.I am sickened by this unAmerican ridiculous attack on my fellow citizens,all for simple possession of this substance.The Federal Law Enforcement branches actually train their officers that there is no such thing as medical marijuana in the states where it has been legalised,usurping the States authority over its citizens.The federal attack on our rights does not end there,it continues to go farther with threats against Honest hard working Doctors and scientists using licence revocation or loss of grant monies to further their agenda against this beneficial substance.
To rely on money derived from a campaign such as this one is truly sad and should prove to many that the true motivation behind keeping this substance as a schedule 1 drug is money.It has absolutely nothing to do with public safety at all,in fact i believe public safety is more threatened by this than any other tool they have in their bag of tricks to arrest honest hardworking citizens.The fact that they are supposed to protect and serve the citizens of our nation has been lost to an atmoshere of us against them with law enforcement becoming a tool used to push a federal agenda that has been proven broken and failed long ago.For these officials to admit let alone actually believe this is a beneficial substance flys in the face of all the training they have received over the years,not to mention the money i mentioned in their budgets related to this issue being lost.They are going to continue to wage this war against our freedoms until enough people stand up to face them and speak the truth no matter what the consequences are.Not many people in the research or medical fields will risk loss of money or licence just to point out the facts around this substance.There is ample evidence of the medical benefits of this substance and the truth that none of the negative consequences they predict would occurs have manifested in the States where it is already being used for medical purposes.
The fact that Tobacco and alcohol are legal causes me to believe that these industries also pay Washington lobbyists to attack legalization as well.The horrible consequences of these toxic substances are well known and documented,but yet we can go into most areas of the country and make a personal choice to use these things.How they can continue to lie about this substance and arrest citizens for using it is just stupid and should be attacked by citizens as an illegal overuse of the authority granted to Law Enforcement by the citizens of this great nation.We should not only be allowed to use it for medical purposes,we should be allowed as adults to decide if we want to use it recreationally.This is a matter of freedom of choice to use this and i believe eventually this will occur.Americans take freedom seriously and when they see something wrong it is usually changed for the better very quickly.This particular issue has been lied about on such a massive scale it is going to be difficult,costly and time consuming to begin a truth campaign against the propaganda machine that has been in place for decades.I personally believe the whole of "the greatest generation"as some call it will have to die off before this is possible.The majority of folks who were alive during WW2 have a propensity to believe the Government has their best interests at heart and believe most of what they are told related to marijuana.The propaganda machine has been honing their misguided information for a very long time and with most of the advocates for legalization having the appearance of long hair and sandals on their feet makes older folks tend to dismiss them.It is very easy to put two sides against each other and have them judged on appearance before the facts are even presented,which in my opinion is one of the main reasons these older folks have a tendency to side with the straight laced business suited anti legalisation crowd.
Now i am also sure that there is another whole industry that has alot of money at stake in this battle.This is the drug rehabilitation industry,and they also pay out alot of money to Washington Lobbyists to maintain the current climate against legalization.The rehabilitation folks like to use the "gateway"theory as one of their main arguments against legalization.This is also been proven false on many levels and i will touch on one of them in this attempt to bring some reality to this issue.When using this "gateway"theory,it is said that folks who are predisposed to addiction have a pattern of going from one addictive substance to another moving up from marijuana and on to other substances that are horrible and devastating,such as cocaine,methamphetamine,and heroin.Well the fact is that,yes,there is a certain percentage of people who are predisposed to addiction.But what is purposely left out of this equation are two very addictive and harmful substances,and this is because you can buy them at most supermarkets,drugstores and corner stores.If it isn't obvious yet i am referring again to tobacco and alcohol.Most people,if these two addictive and dangerous substances were included would cite them,not marijuana,as the first addictive substances they had tried in their lives.Kids steal cigarettes from mom or dad,raid the family liquor cabinet or dads beer fridge long before they get anywhere near marijuana.This should be the one fact of many that shoots a huge hole in their "gateway"theory.An addictive substance is an addictive substance,but if you preclude alcohol and tobacco from the equation by say posing the question "what was the first ILLEGAL substance you ever tried?"it is very easy to twist the results against marijuana.The vast majority would admit to alcohol and tobacco use long before marijuana and the industry knows this and twists results to use them against marijuana legalisation.They do not want to see it legalized because it will bring down the numbers of people seeking help for addiction related problems because folks high on pot are not going to assault people,or crash cars,or many other offenses that land folks in court and then on to rehabilitation facilities.The money they would lose would hurt their bottom line,and they along with law enforcement,do not want to see that happen.You would think that if the number of people seeking help for addiction would be reduced they would be in favor of legalization,but this is absolutely not the case.They continue to rail against it and spread lies and innuendo to perpetuate the cycle that brings clients in the door.I have not gotten into all the many reasons why this would be true,but suffice it to say folks who use marijuana recreationally are more likely to munch on food and relax then go out and get in fights or drive dangerously as is the case with alcohol.
To turn to a similar but different substance that is very much on topic,i am going to now turn my focus on hemp.this wonderful and amazing plant is kept off our farmland using the same lame excuses they use on marijuana.We are the only industrialised nation on the planet that doesn't allow agricultural production of this beneficial crop.The fact that marijuana is illegal is used as the one and only reason this lucrative crop is not allowed.Many of the family farms that have been lost to giant global corporations like Monsanto could have been kept in the hands of the families that had held them for generations and could have been saved if only they were allowed to grow hemp.The DEA says it would be it too easy to grow marijuana in Fields of hemp undetected,but this is a false and misleading distortion of facts.Hemp grows tall,is reedy and ropey and light green,while most marijuana is small and bushy and darker in color and would not get the necessary sunlight if grown in a hemp field.They also like to say that there is trace amounts of the pshycoactive chemical THC in hemp and it could be used to produce products that would induce a high similar to marijuana.This is also a flat out misleading misrepresentation of facts.The United States currently imports tons of hemp and hemp products for use in many different industries.If the DEA had their way these imports would be ceased as well,but our trading partners have used their significant influence to stop that from happening.Why American farmers are kept out of this production and left to the mercy of giant corporations and forced to grow corn and soybeans at a loss is sickening to me.
I am going to list some of the many industries that lobby hard against hemp and marijuana due to the fact that it would present a competitive product that could cost them financially.This will only be a partial list,and i also would like to point out that it could also have a positive effect on the economy if it were allowed.The cotton and timber industries would love for hemp to remain illegal due to the fact that is represents a very viable alternative source of very strong and useful fiber,making stronger and better products superior to theirs,and that would affect their bottom line.Then we can move on to the food lobby,of which there are many giant global corporations that are lobbying against legalization.This is because hemp seed is more nutritious and versatile than the soybean.Hemp seed can make hundreds of food products just like soybeans,but is not as easily controlled as soybeans are.90% of the soybeans grown in the US are patented and owned by the Global Giant Corporation that i mentioned earlier in this post.This allows them to reap profits that are hard to calculate,and hemp seed would create competition they do not have any intention of allowing.This versatile seed also could be used to create bio fuel to operate diesel motors without changing any components on the motors themselves.This is an obvious threat to the oil and gas industry,of which there are many giant corporations with huge resources at their disposal to spend lobbying Congress to continue this war on a simple plant.There are so many uses for this plant that i could literally write a book about it,which of course if i did i would insist it was printed and bound by hemp paper and fiberboard.Then we move on to the Giant Dairy farm lobby,because hemp can,just like soybeans,be used to create hemp milk and ice cream.The production of hempseed products also doesn't create the millions of tons of waste produced by cattle,not to mention the antibiotics and pesticides used to create the feed the animals need to produce milk.It is also healthier and better for you than soybeans are,because of the high concentrations of gammalenolic(?)acid.This is also true of creams and lotions for the skin,hemp seeds make a wonderful base for products like these,which bring in the cosmetic lobby to rail against legalization.I could continue on and on with products and benefits surrounding hemp but i wanted to mention one other very powerful lobby who spends millions of dollars to keep marijuana illegal.This is the Pharmaceutical Industry.Why would they allow a product on the market that would compete with so many of their drugs,especially if patients could grow it themselves without any need for their services?This is one of the biggest industries in our nation,growing bigger and bigger every year.This travesty of justice being brought down upon the American people can and must be ended.Patients should be allowed access to this wonderful beneficial and healthy substitute for many harsh pharmaceutical products must be freed from the bondage that has been imposed on it since the mid 1930s.Please if you have taken the time to read this consider supporting any and all efforts to end the unfair advantage these and many other interests have spent billions of dollars against.The poor plant does not have a giant lobbying firm to speak for it in Washington,only sensible people like you who can vote to change this failed campaign against a useful and beneficial plant.Until next time,thank you for reading. spacewalker

Monday, May 24, 2010

Monday May 24th 2010

Today i am going to discuss the story that is headlines for all of the nation,the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.This tragedy continues unabated and the damage to the ocean and coastal wetlands is just beginning to come into focus.It will take decades and much research to realise just how damaging this spill is,but the immediate focus is on mitigating the damage as much as possible.I must say that i am concerned about how little attention is being given to the real reason behind this horrible disaster.We as a nation are using way too much oil and not using the national attention on this disaster to start the discussion about weaning of fossil fuels and onto renewables.The press like to focus on whatever brings viewers to their shows or newspapers,more attention equals more advertisement income.This is a bad situation because it means that again,money is more important than the facts or the truth.So as the Gulf Coast suffers day after day,the press continues to look for ways to increase profits.The media today is like most large corporations,they have executives not editors making the critical decisions.This is not only a conflict, in my mind it negates the very reason the press exists.A free press is the foundation of a free society,and when the reporters on the street cannot report the truth because it conflicts with the bottom line of the corporations the work for than it spells the end of true freedom..If a story is going to hurt or harm the parent companies or subsidiaries reputation or bottom line,or create a liability situation the story will just not be told.I am totally convinced that this nation is on a slippery slope to no longer being a free and democratic "Constitutional Democracy".The broken and corrupt situation related to our current press and the way it involves story telling can be described in many ways,but i personally believe that it is broken beyond repair.As i continue to write about this oil spill in the gulf i will describe things that you will not see addressed in the national or even local press. Last night,as i watched the news,well,i feel i must first say that i do not have cable or sattalite television in my home.The antenna on my roof brings only the free digital signals of the major networks and pbs into my home.With that caviate the news on the major networks in a Nation that is fighting two wars and facing the worlds worst ecological disaster can go from a short 8 minute story related to these to a story about the Kardashian familys fame and fortune shows how this system is corrupted and broken.Nowhere in the national news should there be anything related to this rediculous and meaningless rich family and their exploits.It shows the stark contrast that these news corporations have related to news cycles.They need to gain attention for the programming that brings the money in,I am describing this because i believe it shows how bad off we are as citizens.We cannot think for one moment that reporters can honestly tell us the reality and repercussions of this oil spill or the wars.Giant global corporations will not allow these news organizations tell us anything related to the truth.Even the Newshour on PBS is sponsored by these giant global corporations so they cannot and will not report anything that could harm their sponsors.The Gulf oil spill is going to ruin gulf coast states not only for the immediate future,but for decades and maybe even a century or more.In my opinion this catastrophy will be the last nail in the coffin of tens if not hundreds of thousands of businesses and families.The income of these coastal communities rely on late spring,summer and early fall for most of their income.The fishing vessals,homes and businesses that must have vacation related incomes is almost hard to describe.With just one season to be lost results in devastating and disasterous situations related to making normal everyday decisions.How to make the boat payments or how to access credit for payroll or stocking shelves becomes impossible.The economic repercussions will take a long time to realize,but the immediate problems go by the wayside to focus on stopping the flow of oil and rescuing the fish,birds,animals and sea mammals affected by this spill.The tourism related businesses that make up the majority of these coastal communities were just beginning to recover from Hurricane Katrina and the devastation related to that,and now they must deal with another season of cancelled vacations and Government and Corporate delay in lending help.
How to continue to access the economic consequences will be very slow,and this is only one tiny peice of a very giant and complicated puzzle.Yesterday while i watched the White House press conferance related to this oil spill i was sicked by a statement from the Military spokesman for this spill.After touring coastal communities yesterday,some senators,congressional representatives and the Secratary of the Interior made some statements to the effect of pushing BP aside and assuming control of the cleanup.US Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen said that those statements were more out of frustration than based in fact.The truth,said the Commandant,is that there is absolutely no mechanism available to take control from this Global Oil giant.We are not capable of doing anything except oversite because the equiptment and expertise all belongs to the companies responsable for this Catastrophy.I find it not only strange and coincidental but highly suspicious that this spill took place on April 20th.I truely belive that it was not an accident,in my opinion it was very possibly a terrorist attack that is being covered up at the highest levels.It is just too coincidental that this happened on a date that is related to other attacks on American sovreignty.This is just my opinion and i have nothing to present that could prove this to be accurate but i do believe it is the case.
As the trick bag to stop the flow from the wellhead and broken riser of the deep water horizen gets more and more depleted,we are told that using mud to plug the well from below may be the answer.If that doesn't work they are going to try a"junk shot"using golf balls shredded tires and other things to plug the well from below.Now we get to wait and see,but if these things don't work the only other way may be drill another hole and plug this well from underneath which could take until August to accomplish.If this is the only way to get this accomplished the ecological and economic damage is going to grow to a worldwide situation.Already it is being catagorised as unprecidented in scope,but the reality is much more than that.Estimates so far as to the amount of oil flowing out of this well are all over the place,from the press releases of the company to the Government estimates to independant scientific estimates.All of these are just that,estimates,and the truth behind the statistics will only be known when this finally comes to an end.I am not confident any of the estimates are acurate,and the true damage to the entire ecosystem will remain unanswered for a long time.There was an unrelated study related to the worlds fish stocks released recently,and it showed very dire results that will be compounded by the results of this oil spill.This report,from the Pew Environmental Group,shows that the worlds fish stocks are severely depleted from over-fishing and could "crash" by mid-century.This report stated that the health of marine life on the high seas is troubling and without immediate global action we are going to see very dire consequences manifest across the globe.Adding this Oil spill to an already stressed system may just hasten the demise of many of the Oceans that we and many other nations rely on.
The more and more i read about this disaster,the more i feel the truth is being either ignored or purposely covered up.I will continue to write about this as the days and weeks go by,and i truely hope i am wrong about what i have said related to the results of this spill.Until next time,thank you for reading. spacewalker

Friday, May 14, 2010

Monday May 17th 2010

Today i will begin my post with the usual commentary on current news events and will end with a few things related to my family life.As the days continue to tick by the oil disaster seems to just get worse and worse.The trick bag to contain it seems to have almost run dry with only a few things left to try to mitigate the consequences on the already stressed and fragile ocean and coastal wetlands.As the scramble to stop the flow goes on,the executives from BP,Transocean and Halliburton were in Washington last week to testify about potential causes and why the plans for what to do if something like this happened were less than useless in containing the flow of oil and natural gas.As these companies executives sat across from the Government officials who were questioning them it was obvious that none of them were ready to accept responsibility for this catastrophe.Transocean says its Halliburtons fault,BP says its Transoceans fault and Halliburton says its BPs fault.It was a very disturbing thing to watch.And then i found out about this obscure govt agency called the mms(mineral management service)that is second only to the irs in contributions to the treasury of the federal government.This agency not only is in charge of issuing permits for exploration,and they are also supposed to monitor and regulate them as well.This major conflict of interest is a stark reminder of how broken our "constitutional democracy"really is.The Secretary of the Interior,Mr.Salazar,should in my opinion immediately resign,as his post is the one responsible for the MMS and issuing drilling permits to these Corporate Pilferers.In researching this subject i found out that all the fees and other possible revenue sources that are derived from these drilling permits are gone around through loopholes and waivers.So the most profitable corporations on this planet are not paying the Government for the privilege of drilling on any project within the jurisdiction of our land or oceans.Nobody seems to be even mentioning this ridiculous travesty related to a major revenue source that our Government could and should be collecting literally hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars.This fact alone should be a reason for Mr.Salazar to resign,but on top of this we now have a huge environmental disaster to contend with.The lack of over site on these drilling operations by the agency in charge of overseeing them is a direct result of the mms being in bed with the very Corporations they are supposed to be monitoring.
The more i research the MMS the more i get angry with the corrupted and broken state of our entire Government bureaucracy.An agency the size of the MMS being so obscure that most people don't even know it exist shows how hard those officials at the Federal level work to keep information from reaching the citizens of our great nation.This agency issues the permits for not just oil exploration and extraction,but coal mining and "mountain top removal" in areas of our country like the Appalachian Mountains.The damage done to the environment by these Giant Global Corporations is not only inexcusable,but in my opinion it is criminal.This oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico should be a wake up call to all Americans that fossil fuels are the energy source of the past,and renewable sources are the only way forward.I realise this is absolutely positively impossible due to the fractured nature of our citizenry,but i am convinced that if we do not immediately start to convert to renew ables that our nation will be doomed to a horrible future that will leave nothing for our children and future generations.As i continue to look into this obscure government agency,i will continue posting information and related facts.I truly believe that as this Agency is brought into the sunlight more and more citizens will call for Secretary Salazars resignation.

It is very difficult for me to write about how i feel related to our Nation because i am truly afraid of the real danger related to criticising our Federal Government in the current environment.It is much to easy to be swept away by law enforcement due to the fact they are now almost unchecked in their powers.They can enter homes without warrants,they are allowed to tap phones and monitor computer activities without any evidence of criminal activity,and to top it off law enforcement can detain you for unlimited amounts of time without charges.These powers are supposed to protect us they say,giving them the ability to stop harmful and dangerous criminal activities by international organizations bent on destroying our Nation.In my opinion these powers do nothing more than shred what is supposed to be the basis of our beliefs,the rights of individual citizens to pursue happiness and true freedom.Today there is some new movements against the unchecked government power that has taken over our system,including the much derided tea party movement. We shall see how this is going to affect the election cycle that has been so corrupted by unchecked corporate money,because the way today's results turn out is going to give us a peek at the anger sweeping the citizens who are the most active politically.I personally hope to see any incumbents or career politicians lose to new fresh faces but i realise that is unlikely to happen.The only way we will be able to curtail the changes that have been put in place over the last several decades is to get rid of the folks responsible for putting these new powers in the hands of a broken and corrupted Government.My personal view is that while groups like the tea party movement may not represent a majority of the citizens of our nation,it is groups at the bottom that are tired of being stepped on that must come together to bring about any real and lasting changes to our system.The current political environment at the lowest levels,the people who come out and protest against the giant growth of deficit spending and unchecked power are the real true faces of our country
As the news continues to unfold related to President Obamas nomination of another candidate for the Supreme Court,republicans are bringing up some very unsavory questions related to this current nominee's personal life.It seems almost unreal watching and listening to conservatives as they try to drag this out and hold up the nomination.There is a rule in the senate that allows "secret holds" to be placed on nominations made by the President,which keeps the person putting the hold from being made public.Along with many other things,this is just another reason we as Americans need to reject any and all incumbents from being re-elected.The nation is at a major crossroads,and with all the unhappiness i see being manifested against the way things are going currently i am sad to say i doubt we can be united against the broken corrupt system that we are living under.It is really unsettling to watch as the media and others use divisive issues to separate us into smaller and smaller groups who seem to focus on single social issues instead of seeing the big picture.We can continue to fight and argue and try to make progress on single issues,or we can unite and use the strength of our diversity as a pillar against the fracturing of our collective future as one of the worlds greatest ideas for a Nation ever to be conceived.With all the wars that have been fought and lives that have already been lost for this great nation to continue on a righteous path,we owe it to ourselves to put our petty grievances aside and sweep our Government of the people who put self interest above National Unity.Our founders had a dream of a Nation that is so far away from where we have come when a Supreme Court nominees personal choices are put ahead their abilities to serve as a competent thoughtful and eligible candidate for the court.The President has the authority to nominate whomever he chooses,and while there is an obligation on the part of the Senate to vet these chosen nominees,delaying or filibustering is not only unproductive it is dangerous.The "secret hold" powers currently in place in the Senate pertaining to all Presidential nominations need to be brought into the light of day for the people to see.If a Senator wants to hold up a nomination,any nomination,he or she must stand up and show themselves to the people of the nation.
The other thing i have been looking into is all the czar positions that the President has been appointing.This is very frightening because there is no Congressional oversight related to these positions.The fact that these czars have power over certain elements of our personal lives and choices related to them just scares me to death.I don't believe there is any Constitutional authority that allows these appointments,and i believe we should challenge them at every possible chance we have.This is a country that is based on freedom and has an open society,and nowhere in our founding documents does it give the commander in chief the authority to appoint hundreds of czars with powers unchecked by congressional authority.The word czar brings up images of Russian totalitarian authority in my mind.I don't believe there should be any czars in our free nation,and especially over things that are personal individual choices.This particular subject of czars,one sticks out to me and that is the drug czar.This "war on drugs"that was declared during the Reagan administration is a total complete and udder failure and needs to be immediately abandoned as such.The fact that Law Enforcement derives such a huge amount of their budgets from forfeiture and confiscation of property from drug arrests is on its face criminal.The fact that people arrested for simple possession are losing cars,homes,and other personal property to law enforcement and the size of the numbers related to these kind of forfeits and confiscations shows the truth behind the "war on drugs".These law enforcement agencies not only need but are reliant on this for budgetary reasons and fight tooth and nail against any and all efforts for legalization.We as a nation are allowing this for what reason i will never know.In my opinion we need to follow examples like Holland were people with addictions are given their drugs through pharmacies as long as they keep employed and do not get in trouble with the law.Drugs are no worse than alcohol as a scourge on society and need to be treated as a personal choice and not a criminal offense.Especially pot,because there are already many proven medical benefits related to this substance,and the "war on drugs"has not affected the number of people who use it at all.Many people use scare tactics to frighten the public away from any talk of Federal legalization,and this is not limited to just law enforcement agencies,but also the rehab organisations that are national.These organisations are reliant on the fact that these substances remain illegal for them to continue to operate.In my opinion,once the older generation of citizens passes on the legalisation process will move forward much faster due to the fact that older citizens are much more inclined to believe the lies being told to continue this war.The truth is that absolutely none of the things they say will happen if drugs are legalised have any real basis in fact.Legalisation and regulation of drugs is the only way forward and until folks can get beyond the propaganda machine that is in place this unamerican assault on the freedoms we hold dear,it will continue.Most Politicians are scared to approach this issue due to the millions of dollars coming from so many directions against legalization that it is much easier to focus on other things.They will continue to allow lies to be told and personal possessions and property to be taken from people who should just be left alone.Nobody can say that the illegal drug trade will continue if drugs are legalised and regulated because it is just not true.The criminal activities that revolve around illegal drugs would stop very soon after legalisation,but so would the flow of cash to law enforcement that comes from all the possessions and property that is taken from the people unfortunate enough to fall victim to overzealous enforcement of this unfair and unamerican war. The 15 states that currently allow medical marijuana use don't have any bad repercussions befalling them as the propaganda machine would like people to believe.As a matter of fact,none of the states have any negative statistics related to anything other than criminal activities that are a direct result of personal recreational use.This would otherwise be completely and utterly useless because if recreational use was legal these would be no longer available as a tool to site as negatives.The gateway drug theory has been proven to be another lie used to manipulate public opinion away from legalization.As more and more citizens become aware of the truth,that pot is much less of a public health threat than alchohol or tabacco,we will slowly but surely move to a federal legalization and national policy will reflect the truth about this topic.Adults should be able to make decisions related to recreational use without being deemed criminals.To get beyond this failed idea that has had decades to produce the effects it was supposed to,we must be able to have a public forum for discussion.This is very difficult when so many lies are cemented into public policy by groups that have a financial interest in keeping them illegal.I believe that states bordering Mexico need to especially consider a more rational stance in order to bring demand for illegal drugs under control by legalization,regulation and taxation.This would immediately give them the upper hand against criminal organizations that reap tremendous rewards from this arcane and useless "war on drugs".With the President of Mexico here on a visit the discussion should be on legalization more than enforcement of laws that have failed to control or even curtail the problem in either country.
Tomorrow i have a meeting at my children's school related to my youngest son,and i will report on the progress after i have more information.The situation with my older son Jer continues to trouble me,but i am no farther along at getting an answer related to his situation yet.It is extremely frustrating to have to wait,as the end of the school year readily approaches.To have him in a situation that is not beneficial to his moving ahead leads me to believe the district is stalling until the year ends and my choices become much more limited.I will be bringing this up at tomorrows meeting and will post more as i am more informed.I will end here for now,until next time thank you for reading. spacewalker

Monday, May 10, 2010

Monday May 10th 2010



Today i will begin my post as usual with commentary on some news stories and then try to add a little family news.This will be my first post speaking about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico at length because i was very hopeful it would be over by now.This is not the case and i must say i am disgusted with the handling of the catastrophe,and had high expectations they would have a solution by now,but as we all know this is not the case.I am hopeful that with all the modern technology we should be able to fix this mess.Unfortunately for all of us and the whole of the natural world this is not the case,the depth of this wellhead makes any type of repair almost impossible. Pressure at such depths ruin any equipment that is used to repair this type of disaster.We are not any closer than we were in the days immediately following the explosion and subsequent sinking of this deep water platform to stopping the flow of unmeasurable barrels per day into a very fragile and already stressed ecosystem.This is a situation we were told was almost impossible to occur and that the safety measures in place would be more than adequate to prevent this type of unstoppable flow of oil into the ocean.Obviously this was not just an exaggeration but an outright lie on the part of the companies who do this type of deep water exploration and extraction of this fossil fuel we are all so dependant on.In my opinion this mess shows the disconnect of the American people have from reality in not only this one very important area,but in all areas of collective interest including the many Wars our current Federal Government officials have we the people engaged in.We are so intensely focused on our own life situations that this type of thing is just a story in the news to be ignored.If the citizens of our nation were actively involved and attentive to what our elected officials are engaged in with this and so many other issues,we could be proud and comfortable with how these officials represent our Nation to the world.I am sorry to say the only thing that gets the attention of the citizens of this nation is either a National disaster of epic proportions such as this or a story about some Hollywood or music industry or sports stars private personal problems.Because the broken corrupt media of this nation not only has failed to inform the public of the true nature of the State of our union but will continue to put stories that should be left to tabloid rags ahead of real honest reporting of unbiased important issues that should matter to us all.The deeper and longer that the details of this story of the oil spill disaster slowly emerge the more i am convinced that not only is our political system in need of reform,i really believe we need a wholesale revamping of all the rules and laws used to elect these folks who represent us in Washington.The whole of the Congress needs to be thrown out on their collective asses and we need all new and uncorrupted representation for our nation not only to get beyond this oil spill disaster,but to actually survive as the last free and Democratic nation on the planet.In my opinion without brand new elected officials on the Federal level,which i obviously know is impossible,the Country as a whole is headed down the path to collapsing under the weight of all the poor decisions these officials have made over the whole of my lifetime.I cannot foresee any other result due to the fractured nature of the citizenry,the fact that money now is equal with free speech in the eyes of our Federal Judiciary,and the entrenched nature of the broken corrupt Political system that our current Federal,State and local officials work under.
I am not surprised when i hear all the finger pointing and name calling surrounding the levels of accountability that are supposed to be in place to mediate the awful consequences of this unprecedented oil spill and its resulting impact on the ecosystem and economy of not only our nation but the whole of the planet we share with the rest of the globe. Citizenry whom we seem to ignore when it comes to our actions in contrast with how they affect the rest of the world.This oil spill debacle will prove to the rest of the world that we are wholly unprepared to deal with this and many other problems that we always expound our preparedness for.Not only are we not prepared to accept our responsibilities to this and future generations for the destructive nature of our extravagant and self indulgent lives,we continue to try to expand not only our own,but global economies due to the fact that growth is the only way to continue down this very destructive path of using fossil fuels as our main energy source.We need to immediately and unconditionally recognise that this is not only an unsustainable way of life,but that a change to a sustainable resource based energy system must take precedence over any and all other issues we face together as a global community.The people who are at the top of our tiered society,the small percentage whom hold the majority of the wealth, must either prepare to give back a large portion of their assets and future aspirations for more and more power and money to the rest of the citizens who are in the middle or at the bottom,or watch from their ivory towers as the whole of our collective planet burns down like a Forrest of drought ridden timber that routinely burns across the western half of our country.Of course i realise this is not only an unrealistic vision,but truthfully looking at the fractured nature of our citizenry i must say that the oil spill is just a small look into the future of how our nation will be subject to the results of this unsustainable lifestyle and the powers that be would not only hope for but will push hard to continue.
At this point of my post i must say that the way that any and all opposition to the true nature of the corrupt political and judicial systems of our "free and democratic" nation are marginalised and kookified by media and government officials is the standard procedure. The system must continue to function in its current cloak of lies and misrepresentations and secrecy to keep the folks at those levels in power,and to continue to fracture and separate us into small groups that are in constant opposition of each other in order to keep the focus on what divides us instead of what should bind us together is in their best interest.It matters not what your religion or race,your political or economic position,we will all be subject to the horrible consequences of not addressing collectively the issues that must be solved before we can have any kind of a real chance at a prosperous life for our children and grandchildren,and all the future generations of this planet.To push labels on peoples beliefs is just the easiest way for divisions to be created and will continue to push us apart as the folks at the top continue to exploit the resources and the people of our entire planet for their own personal benefit.The use of terms like "conspiracy theorists" and "far left" or "far right"help to drive a wedge between the people who are brave enough to speak out against the current atmosphere in Political and Public arenas,especially those that threaten to stem the flow of money to Corporations that are at the core of the reason our system is not only broken,but in my opinion fatally flawed.Every time there is a catastrophe of national significance,whether it is of environmental or economic or political in nature,there is hearings at the national level so officials can parade folks at fault in the classic perp walk for the public.They sit behind their charade of pretending to care and want to bring the public justice for wrongs suffered while at the same time personally being enriched by the very same folks they are parading in front of the cameras.It is very common to use divisive issues to fracture groups of citizens against each other and get the focus on unsolvable issues that cannot be agreed upon for personal political or religious reasons.Media will focus on the arguing and hateful rhetoric instead of things that would be powerful and sustainable reasons to work collectively for results that would benefit the greater good of us all as brothers and sisters of the same human family.It is very easy to toss the issues that divide us as a people into the fray,the hardest thing to do is put the good of the nation ahead of personal political or financial goals as an individual.As a fairly young Nation of a continuing and evolving Constitutional Democracy free speech is one of the cornerstones of the founders vision for us as a nation,but in this time of saturation of cable TV and Internet opinions by folks from every corner of society this becomes somewhat blurring to the truth.We can have differing opinions on issues,this is very natural and healthy,but when the air becomes saturated with so many different peoples views on each and every issue that is in need of a decisive answer that any kind of collective agreement becomes not only improbable,but impossible.This is why it is much easier to push citizens into a fight about issues that of vital importance so the status quo is retained.If you look at the way our Government cannot solve one single issue of National importance without partisan language against the opposing side the reality of this current dilemma becomes apparent.Oil soaking the coastline of the gulf of Mexico becomes a stark and visible stain on the nature of where we are as a nation and as the how we are viewed as the worlds sole remaining "superpower".We as a nation cannot continue to rely on fossil fuel for energy anymore than we can continue to allow corporations to control our Political system with financial dominance.It seems to me that if we do,the resulting destruction of our planet will leave nothing to the future generations but environmental and financial calamity.
As the other stories in the news currently continue to revolve around divisive issues,i really must confess i am very sad about the prospects for resolution of even one of the many issues we must face up to.The fact that there are so many groups of angry citizens standing against the way things are currently headed.With all the Financial problems across the globe continuing to spiral downward,and the economic consequences of the oil spill yet to be realised,it is very difficult to find something that may shine a light on some sort of positive progress to the issues that will affect us all.I am very hopeful that the oil slick and resulting environmental mess it will leave us may just be the catalyst to push the majority of citizens to agree that fossil fuel is the energy source of the past,and that sustainable resources are the only way forward.If this is the case,it will become very obvious in the coming months as we suffer together the environmental and economic consequences of this unprecedented disaster that will in my opinion not only affect the coastlines of the continental United States but the entire world.
The family news again is kind of static,nothing much has changed since my last post.One thing that has changed however is the family car that we find ourselves driving.We reached the end of a four year lease on the 2006 Chevy Cobalt that we have enjoyed driving for the past four years.So as we looked around to try for another car we found a very tight credit market for folks like us who haven't established credit appropriate to our ages.Neither one of us have owned a house or any other major asset which hurts our ability to qualify for a loan.So to make a long story short after two weeks of being denied we went to a dealer recommended by a family friend and at the last moment qualified for a fairly high interest loan on a new 2010 Chevy Cobalt.This new car has some options we did not have in our last car,and i am happy with it because my wife really likes it.I feel like she deserves to drive a nice car because she works very hard to support me and the kids,and as long as this continues to build our credit the high interest is worth cutting other expenses that are not essential.I included two pics today,one of the old car we just returned and one of the new car.My wife is standing next to the old car just to distinguish between the two.So i will end here for now,until next time thank you for reading. spacewalker

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Wedsday May 5th 2010


Today i will begin with commentary on some issues in the national news and then i will try to include some family news as well.The news is filled with reports surrounding the failed terrorist attack in NYC.The usual scare tactics employed by officials to turn an attack like this into a political opportunity has already begun.The mayor of NYC is going to Washington to attack my Constitutional right to bear arms with this rediculous attempt to use this terrorist attack to attempt to furthur his political agenda.I am extremely offended at this blatent disregard for our Constitution and for the scores of American men and women in our military who have fought and died for Freedom.As the mayor tries to use this excuse to furthur a political agenda,i have faith in our bedrock principles that were put in place at the founding of our nation.The founders of this nation were very aware of the rich and powerful using the tools of the state to disregard the people's rights.This also throws in stark contrast the argument between the "living document" and the other side of that in our battle against the powers that be.In the "living document" arguments,especially against our right to bear arms,the rich and powerful forces like to say things like "the founders would never have imagined semi-automatic weapons in the hands of civilians."this argument,i am glad to say,will shortly be put to rest by the Supreme Court.They are a short time away from issuing their judgement about this issue and when they do,i am confident we will be done with the attack by the Mayor of NYC and his friends like George Soros and Rebecca Peters.The court is days away from issuing their opinion about incorporation of the second amendment under the fourteenth amendment.This will make State pistol permit regulation and all other capricious and arbitrary State laws unconstitutional.The court ,for the past century,has used what is referred to as "selective incorporation" of the bill of rights.The fourteenth amendment specifically places the authority over certain rights in the bill of rights to the Federal Government,removing unconstitutional state restrictions completely.This will make State Pistol Permits unconstitutional along with "assult weapon"bans and all other attempts to remove the ability of law abiding citizens to defend life and personal property with firearms.This is going to be a day i will celebrate and will talk more about when the ruling comes out.As far as this ruling is concerned,it will be the single most important ruling to come out of the court related to personal freedoms in our nation.Along with the Heller ruling,which cemented an individual right to bear arms against the attempt to make it not an individual right,but a "collective"right that an individual would need state permission for,this will finally end this particular attack on our Constitutional rights.As the last free and democratic nation on the planet to allow private citizens to defend themselves against criminal assult and over-reaches by a bloated and corrupt State and Federal Government which has been corrupted by money,this will be the most important decision related to individual rights in the last hundred years at least.If the social order were to break down,wheather from natural or man made disaster,State and Federal authorities will be protecting vital infastructure and the citizenry will be left to defend itself.Without the second amendment we would be at their mercy and would suffer the dire consequences of Officials like the mayor of NYC.He thinks we are not capable of having the rights our founders intended to stop the very over-reaches by authorities like the one we will witness today as The Mayor of NYC testifies before Congress.He will use his tired arguments and lies in front of the whole of the nation and be exposed for what he is,a billionaire who believes he knows better than the founders of our nation.So this argument may continue,and billionaires like The mayor of NYC and George Soros may continue to fund anti-gun organisations, but we can be secure in the knowledge that once the incorporation question is put to rest their power to restrict our right to bear arms will be severely impaired.Only Federal regulation will be allowed and it will be the same from California to Texas,from New York to Colorado,and concealed carry will be the law of the land.This ruling will allow ordinary citizens to defend themselves,their families and their property against criminals and any other real and obvious threats to life and liberty.As a young man my father taught me about guns,gun safety,proper care and handling of guns,and of course how to acurately sight and shoot a gun,and i will do the same with my two sons.I am very privileged and lucky to be a citizen of a nation with such freedoms and liberties,and will exercise and teach these rights to my children as my father did for me.I wait in anticipation of this ruling and am very confident with the current conservative make up of the court that the founders ideals will be upheld with this soon to be released decision.Proir to this fight at the highest levels of our democratic legal system,government law enforcement and justice system officials wanted to limit this right by saying it was a collective right reserved for only State sanctioned law enforcement and military personel,and when they lost that argument the State again tried to impose its will with only allowing certain people who could meet unfair requirements and that individuals need the states permission to own weapons.No more will this be the case,no more state pistol permits or restrictions against military style weapons will be allowed.As i eagerly await this decision i will continue to comment on this issue and would be glad to read and respond to any and all readers questions and comments as well.
Another thing that i found in the news today was that Washington DCs city council has deceided to allow medical marijuana in the district.This is another victory for the people of this nation and another step toward ending another failed "war" that was declared on the very citizens of this nation that the government is supposed to be there to serve.This will be the 15th place,the other 14 being states,to allow medical marijuana,and may also be a step forward in allowing our agricultural system to grow industrial hemp.We are one of the last democratic nations on the planet that still outlaws growing the benign and beneficial plant for industrial and personal use.This is because,in my opinion,our government makes billions of dollars confiscating property and possesions of people who are found in possesion of marijuana.The Federal Government and State Governments are very far behind the rest of the world on this subject,and need to be forced by the people to abandon this failed "war on drugs" and adopt sensible laws and regulations surrounding Marijuana and Hemp.This may remove a large portion of their budgets due to the nature of the current atmosphere around this issue,but it is the only fair and proper way forward in a nation where personal freedom and liberty should always trump overreaches by State and Federal law enforcement agencies.The old tired arguments used against this plant need to be chucked into the ashbin of history as a failed and unfair assult against the citizens of this nation.For me to put these two subjects into the same post was purposeful and i wanted to do this to make a point.We are living in a time of great volitility and uncertainty,and a movement against overreaches by Government authorities is at a new level,any and all subjects need to be put on the table and discussed rationally by all the parties involved.Fear tactics and false threats of terrible consequences surrounding these issues need to be put aside by both sides so that we can reach realistic conclusions and enact fair and reasonable federal laws to govern a sensable and realistic national answer to complicated but possible solutions to these and many other issues facing us as a nation.
I will continue to comment on these issues as i move along with my writing,and i hope to get some input by readers of this blog if possible.Truth be told it seems i write and no one seems to read it,but even just as a log of my personal opinions may be useful for my children in the future when i am no longer around.This particular blog i wanted to put these subjects together because it is just silly that we cannot have civil discussions about difficult issues without finger pointing and name calling causing the conversation to be divisive with no conclusion.I truely believe we all need to be able to sit at the same table to talk about any and all issues without the conversation degrading into hateful and useless arguments.
Family news is fairly uneventful recently,and i continue to work to get the local school system to give my children the opportunities they deserve.The situation is unchanged since my last post on the subject but as the situation develops i will comment more.My struggle with my back problems also remains unchanged as my decision about allowing more surgery has not been finalised yet.I am very frustrated with the fact that i cannot find any releif that is lasting,and the medicine continues to hamper my ability to have any semblance of a normal existance.The side effects are brutal and i hope that someday soon the medical community will understand and therefore be able to treat patients like me.My wife continues to work hard to provide for our family,and i am very lucky to have her support in this difficult struggle with my health.She is kind and helpful and very understanding of the effects chronic pain has on my abilities as her spouse.I love her with all my heart and feel very blessed to have such a compassionate partner in this troubled and difficult time.I feel very very lucky to have my family,my wife and children give me a reason to continue along with gratitude and appreciation for what blessing i have been given.The pic today is of sunset at my favorite place in the world,Sandy Pond,off the bow of the family fishing boat.I will end here for now,until next time thank you for reading. spacewalker

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Tuesday April 27th 2010



Well,today's post is going to begin with some commentary on the national news and then i will try to get to some family news as well.The first thing i would like to discuss is the immigration law that was put into affect in Arizona.It requires Police to request papers from anyone who is suspected of being an illegal alien.This is not only an unamerican law,i hope it is struck down as unconstitutional.The State government of Arizona is reacting to some very conservative activists who are unhappy with the 500,000 apparent illegal mexican immigrants who are in their State.I am personally disgusted with State and Federal authorities who go after these mexican immigrants with such fervor,but leave the GIANT corporations alone who hire these immigrants so they can abuse them as they have no protection from anyone in the workplace.From giant global food conglomerates to other large corporate businesses who hire these folks so they can avoid worrying about State and Federal labor law,workers compensation and other issues like mandatory overtime without time and a half pay,our Government is giving these companies a pass and are going after the workers themselves.As these companies continue to break federal and state labor laws by hiring illegal immigrants,the Federal Government has decieded to agressively go after the workers and leave the businesses alone.This is more than a travesty of justice,it is an absolute tragedy in my opinion.For our Government to send armed ice enforcers to arrest and deport workers from their beds in small trailer parks and low income housing,while at the same time allowing these global corporate titans to continue illegal hiring practices without any fear of Government crackdown is unamerican and disgusting.These companies have legions of attorneys and huge Washington lobbying firms pressuring Federal Representatives to ignore these practices and go after the illegals instead.These companies need to be boycotted by all americans,republican or democrat alike,because they are a MAJOR reason we have the problems we do related to illegal mexican immigrants coming over the border to look for work.As long as these companies continue to be allowed to hire illegals,break State and Federal labor and workers compensation law,the people from other countries who sneak into the U.S. seeking a better life for themselves and their families will continue.Until both sides of the political spectrum realise that we are all on the same side and rise up against this rediculous contradiction in federal enforcement against poor immigrants who just want a better life,it matters little what we are bickering about because the problem will continue.I think these companies need a wake up call by the federal enforcement of their unfair and illegal practices of hiring illegal workers so they will start to address the problem we face as a nation.As long as the feds continue to try to look like they are doing something by arresting these folks who are NOT criminals,these giant global conglomerates will continue to abuse the labor pool of illegals.They will use whatever tools they are given to furthur their profit margins while keeping labor costs low.This seems to be so widespread in our nation that if they really deceided to crack down on these corporate criminals it would have a tremendous negative affect on an already weak economy.Even during one of the worst economic downturns in history it is our obligation as a nation to be a leader in the enforcement of safe and honest labor practices by giant rich and powerful global corporations.If they deceide to move out of the U.S. because of this so be it in my humble opinion.I would rather watch these jobs go overseas than continuing to allow these companies to get away with these horrible human rights violations.The United States is supposed to be a world leader in regards to workplace safety,yet the truth behind the numbers shows exactly the opposite,that we allow rich and powerful companies to abuse the labor pool of illegal immigrants in the name of capitalism.As a father and a citizen of this great nation i must admit a level of disgust with our current political environment,and cannot just sit by and watch as the Politicians continue to pander to these global corporate powerhouses,accepting massive campaign donations while at the same time pretending to be an honest broker of the public good.As the record shows,many of these very politicians whom it just so happens used to work for these same companies as executives,now get to make decisions that will directy affect their former employers profit margins.This was held in stark relief as a supreme court justice who used to work for the same company as an executive,authored the majority opinion that allowed his former employer a pass on labeling food that has genetically modified ingredients.This decision directly affected the food we feed ourselves and our children,yet the court decided it was the companies profits that were more important than the public good.This is happening on a daily basis in our courts,the fact that whomever can pile enough money on lady justices scale wins.Many of these companies will continue the unfair and illegal labor practices regardless of the State and federal laws currently on the books to prohibit it,because they know if they continue to contribute huge amounts of cash to lobbying and campaign coffers they will be allowed to continue breaking the law without any fear.The People who run our Government would much rather use Federal Law enforcement against the poor immigrants than against Giant Global Corporations whom contribute literally millions of dollars to get them re-elected.This rediculous contradiction will continue no matter what industry it happens to be,unless we the people can put up enough of a non-violent protest that they actually feel like their re-election would be in jepordy if they do not act.Many of the Federal elected officials from both parties would love for this subject to be put off,as this is an election year and they do not want a backlash from the growing voting block of hispanic legal citizens.This is as toxic as the political environment has ever been,and another stone on the load just may cause the whole wagon to topple over.As we as citizens have seen in the past,the political winds can shift faster than anyone can predict and can sweep one party or the other into or out of power.This new Arizona law will hopefully,in my opinion,force the immigration issue front and center at exactly the wrong time for both parties.Because Immigration reform legislation is an issue that affects so many States,I foresee a great storm of press releases from Federal Representatives regarding this issue.As our President looks into his options to block enforcement of this new Arizona law,we will see Mexican border state officials continue to push Washington aggressively toward Federal enforcement of the laws already on the books against the large group of illigal immigrants across this great nation.The number of illigal immigrants in the United States is estimated to be around 14 million,and any realistic legislation would have to include some sort of amnesty program for these folks already here.This is another reason that both sides can continue to avoid any truthful discussion,because the far right of will absolutely fight any type of path to citizenship,with conservative media talk shows fanning the flames of intollerance using very insindeary language to get the strongest negative backlash as they can possibly can prevoke.The far left on the other hand will use the exact same tactics to attack conservative ideals in the name of freedom and democracy,and we will end up at the same place we always end up in these contensious issues,nowhere.Alot of finger pointing and name calling but absolutely no progress on the issue.Do i have a solution to suggest?Of course i do,but i will abstain from bringing in my opinion on how to solve this as i am in no position to make a difference either way.I am nobody with an opinion,and we can be found anywhere you look.What i do know for sure is that this new law in Arizona is absolutely unconstitutional and will eventually be struck down as such.In the meantime it will distract us even more from the issues that are vital to our survival as a free and democratic nation,our involvement in an unjust and illegal war in two nations.This "war on terror"as it is known,is the longest war in American history.When television commentators say these are two different wars,they are just plain lying through their teeth.It is one global offensive that our Government has engaged us in because of the attacks we suffered as a nation on September 11th,2001.I would like to mention that i believe going after terrorists is a noble goal,but to undermine the very freedoms they are supposed to protect in the name of fighting an enemy that has no uniform or governmment is not only unlawful and unjust,but absolutely Unamerican.I totally support our Military men and woman,but i am completely and totally against this war we are currently engaged in.I would also like to mention the fact that our government has decieded to allow very unconstitutional practices of warrentless wiretapping of american citizens,and also very sweeping searches of our homes and businesses in the name of this "war"which by the way has no foreseeable end.I personally would like to say that if i were to ever be killed in a terrorist attack,do not use my death as an excuse to remove freedoms that all prior wars have been fought to protect.This "war" is going to go on and on until we the people force our government to stop it and bring our brave troops home and to abandon the unfair unamerican unconstitutional practices that were put into place following those awful days after 9/11.The new law in Arizona is just another over reach by Government officials whom see an opening to gain more power over their constituancy.To pander to the groups who are against illegal immigration has always been an election year stategy in border States with a large anti immigration populations like Arizona,and will continue to be until we as a nation can address seriously the problem of needing the immigrants to preform many jobs that ordinary americans will just not do.
The family news is mostly normal boring family news relating to school,work,ect.and i will try not to blab on and on about mundane topics so as to keep readers attention.Our son Matthew had his 8th birthday on the 21st of April,and we had some cupcakes and juice along with a few small gifts of beanie babies and books,and writing material such as a journal with space to draw at the top of each page.Matthew,as i have mentioned in prior posts,is in the autism spectrum and has a few issues that hamper his social abilities.To try to help with these and other issues we continue to support any interests he has,including his need to read and write to express feelings otherwise stiffled by his autism.His beanie baby collection continues to grow and his love for them grows as well,as they are very real friends to him.I must say to all the folks who have helped him amass this collection that every single one is loved and cared for and will continue to be .Our other son Jeromy continues to struggle with school,and i continue to advocate for him related to his abilities and the help he needs to address these deficiencies.I am going to continue to push the system to get him the help he needs and deserves to help him move forward with his education.My wife continues to be the breadwinner in our family,and we are doing our best to get another car for her to drive to work. The lease on our current car expires on the 9th of May and we are hopeful we will qualify to get another new car,but with the credit markets so tight we are not so sure it will happen.I personally would be very happy if we do as i believe my wife deserves to drive something she is proud of,and something that has a proven safety record to keep the children safe when they are riding in it.The one we picked out may not be the one we end up with in this tight credit market,so i will refrain from mentioning the make or model until we are actually parking it in our driveway.As far as me and my personal health related issues,i continue to battle the backpain with the tools i am provided.While they do a fairly good job of masking the underlying problems,the real problem continues to remain untouched.So more surgery is what they suggest to get at the underlying problem of the failed fusion and the collapsed disc above it. I have family members who are very adamantly against me having such an extensive elective surgery.As time goes on and my pain gets worse,the dibilitating nature of chronic pain may end up forcing me to accept the risks and go for the surgery to try and regain some sort of quality to my life.The pics today are two veiws of camp,one of the kids in the water in front and the other is of sunset looking off the bow of the family fishing boat.Anyways i will end here for now,until next time,thank you for reading. spacewalker

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Monday April 26th 2010


Todays post i am going to begin by talking about a recent epiphany i had regarding what i eat and what i feed my family.I am a lifetime omnivore,but then i viewed the footage on this great documentary called "Food Inc."by Michael Pollan.This man is a blessing to the planet and he is a fantastic author and an amazing advocate for change to a broken corrupt system.I recommend all of his books as must reads,and if you possibly can watch the documentary as well.The books are"an omnivore's delemma","in defense of food" and "the botany of desire".My older sister whom is herself a brilliant scholar graciously gifted me two of these books,and i cannot thank her enough for her love and support.She has given me many of the books i recently have read and has always supported and encouraged me to write and read as much as possible.I also must say when my sister and i get a chance to talk i always learn something new and enjoy her wit and wisdom tremendously.To return to the subject currently consuming me,i cannot bring myself to eat meat anymore after seeing that movie.I want no more of this unhealthy and unnatural food to go into my or my families mouth.It was eye opening to say the least to see how executives of giant food conglomerates go directly to high ranking government positions at the FDA and make regulatory decisions over their former employers.This kind of egregious conduct was just discussed by me about the financial corporations and their executives being former federal officials and visa versa.This kind of revolving door between our government and any and all large corporations from the food industry to the energy industry to the financial industry and on and on and on.It is an unbelievably corrupted and broken system run by two political parties entangled and entwined with all of the whole of the worlds corporations.The food industry alone is going to be the example i will address now in this post,but they all need to be discussed in an open public forum on a national scale for we the people to debate and discuss a realistic way forward.No longer can we sit by and watch as money consumes any and all chance for our government to the business of the people.As they sit back and do nothing our food system is being systematically consolidated into a small but giant group of global corporate control.I could not believe how giant food conglomerates send legions of lawyers after small farmers and put them out of business if they don't use their product.Because food has been legally given a patent in the form of seed stock that stops farmers from using anything but what the company has to sell.This corruption has permeated every aspect of the whole of the food system from top to bottom,and the problem this country has related to obesity can be directly traced back to the giant food conglomerates and their desire to bring as much profit to the shareholders at the expense of the health of our nation.The companies would like us to believe that it is a crisis of personal responsability in our nation,that we are a bunch of overindulgant americans gorging ourselves on way too much unhealthy food.This is not the case at all,when most people are looking for a family meal they must try to get the best for their money,and the industry makes sure it is easier to buy sugary drinks like soda and high calorie and sugar laden snacks like chips and cookies,ect...For an average family of average income it is much easier to go to the drivethru and get a big bag of burgers and fries to feed the kids than go to the grocery store and buy fresh vegtables and fruits or unprocessed food like locally raised poultry,pork and beef.It is not hard to desire a better diet for your family,the hard part is finding out how to go about finding food that meets the criterea of low environmental footprint,low carbon emissions and locally raised and in season foods.
The more research i do the more scared i become from the overwealming chokehold these giant global food conglomerates have on our entire food system.Trying to trace your food from seed to store shelf,or from farm to table is almost impossible at this point in our history.The government agencies in charge of overseeing this billion or even trillion dollar industry,have put the profit of these corporations way up and above the safety and well being of our nation as a whole.Along with all the other different markets and industries i have mentioned besides the food industry,the unchecked growth of a capitalist marketplace has destroyed any vestiges of a once great and powerful free nation into a corrupted group of billionaires doing their best to squeeze every last recource available to enhance their own positions.The whole of the Political system of this nation is beyond repair and in my humble opinion needs to be addressed as an national emergency.Non-violent public protest on a massive scale from coast to coast must take place,people need to throw open their windows just like in the famous movie,and shout "i'm mad as hell,and i'm not going to take it anymore!!!!"We cannot sit idle and watch as the decades long practice of corporate lobbyists using corporate money to buy our elected officials off to continue any longer.We need to DEMAND that public financing be the way our elections are financed,especially due to the recent Supreme Court ruling related to corporate financing of elections being free speech and covered under the first amendment.To give a faceless corporation with the unlimited resources available to it the same rights as an individual citizen with very limited recources is just stupid in my humble opinion.This must be a priority of any citizen of this nation who believes in freedom and true democracy,because the world we leave our children is how we will be judged in the end.The poison processed food that fills the shelves of this nations grocery stores must be discarded like the useless harmful garbage that it is,and we must replace it with healthy organic unprocessed food.This noble goal is very obviously pie in the sky and not possible,but the more people who become aware of the true nature of the inner workings of some of these global conglomerates and how they have a choke hold on every bite we take the better off our children will be down the road.They put it best in the movie in my opinion,saying that we can vote on this subject three times a day at each meal.The more of us to stop supporting companies who want nothing but the highest profits possible at the lowest cost possible at the expense of our collective health,the less they will be able to harm our children.When you peel back the ugly truth of the system it doesn't matter what party affiliation you may have and what causes you may support,i am convinced no one would forego the health and well being of the people they love to benefit some executives and shareholders whom only hunger for more of our hard earned family budget.All of the suffering being endured worldwide because of this current economic crisis is being felt at the lower middle and bottom of the economic ladder,which is where most of the health related issues from unhealthy diet are suffered as well.When you are rich it is currently very chic to be "green"to buy organic and eat healthy,have a low carbon footprint and put up a facade of caring for the world and your fellow citizens,but when you struggle to meet your obligations and the daily domestic tasks of a family impose on your abilities to be "green" it becomes much more difficult to do.I believe the lack of healthy food and the challenge of finding it being everywhere from inner citys to rural countryside forces people into bad habits.If all there is to eat in your neighborhood is on the shelves of convienience stores or small market type corner stores,then the fast food option becomes an easy way to cheaply feed the family with bags of chips and soda being snackfood in between.Subsidised commodity crops like corn and soybeans create problem products like high fuctose corn syrup and other products that are horrible for your health.The longer we sit by and not collectively get up to do something about it the worse it will become and the longer it will take to fix.When you look at things from the standard of basic scientific theory,which entails hypopthosis,experiment,analasis,it becomes fairly obvious that in the analasis of the way our system has functioned over the last two or even three decades the experiment has failed.To continue on the same path expecting a different result is the exact textbook definition of insanity.Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.I am personally going to change my and my families eating habits.I am going to do whatever is within my abilities to feed my family food that is locally grown and harvested,organic when possible,and stop buying from anywhere but farmers markets and places that sell real unprocessed food.Our family is on a tight budget and it is going to be a slow and gradual change so as not to shock the children into rebelling against it while at the same time not breaking our bank.I have a great family and i am very lucky to be able to attempt this change and my heart goes out to those who are not able to make this choice.I will end here for now,but before i go let me again thank my sister for her wonderful gift of Michael Pollens books and for imparting her knowledge and wisdom to me.I posted a another pic from the gov't mule concert i went to with my son jeromy,this is another of Warren Haynes and Jackie Brown jamming during the encore.I will continue working on eating healthy,exercising,and doing my best to battle back the pain.Without a positive attitude and a good outlook on life pain is the ultimate foe,and will take its toll quickly if left to linger unattended.The fact that laying down is most comfortable can result in isolation,so getting up and moving is key to my personal situation.I will end here,until next time thank you for reading. spacewalker