Do as you are told

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Under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, aimed at averting a looming recession, more than 130 million American households will receive economic stimulus payments beginning in May.


Our leaders in Washington, DC - George W. Bush along with Congress - have deemed it appropriate to send YOU, the taxpayer, $300 to $600, a so-called economic growth incentive, so that you can help revive the flagging U.S. economy.

Here's the catch: For this plan to work you've got to go on a wild spending spree just as soon as you receive your check, preferrably adding an extra chunck of your cash "into the bargain". (Good luck finding ANY merchandise not made in China...)

Don't go doing something selfish like putting that money in a savings account or using it to pay down your credit cards, "No siree Bob". That would spell disaster: If you try to use the windfall in a responsible way, then this entire house of fiscal cards is going to collapse. Do you want to be responsible for bringing down the already limping American economy? Of course not! That is why it is your PATRIOTIC DUTY to go out and spend, spend, spend!

: Wouldn't you know it :
Asian stock markets respond positively to America's economic stimulus campaign. With the U.S. being the biggest importer of Asian goods, Asia's lucrative export market is hampered by an ailing U.S. economy and welcomes a speedy turn-around.

"We are going to give rebates to taxpayers, and that is great. But what will most of them do with it? They are going to buy things that were imported from China,"
said former Republican Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee.

: Stop and think :

A hackneyed plot: The tax-rebate plan would cost the Treasury about $150 billion this year, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. The U.S. government is giving taxpayers money that is essentially "invented money", by increasing federal debt, debt, that all taxpayers and all check recipients are, in one way or another, on the hook for...

"We can't keep on mortgaging our children's future $150 billion at a time,"
said Representative Jim Cooper, one of 10 Democrats to vote against the bill.

The bottom line:
There is no such thing as *free money*


[Read about Recession: Economic crisis of 2008]


[Choose your News]

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We are

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"We are
the ones

we've been waiting for"

- Barack Obama, born August 1961 to a black Kenyan father and a white American mother, is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. In the course of his campaign Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and providing universal health care as his priorities. He has written two bestselling books: a memoir of his youth titled Dreams from My Father, and The Audacity of Hope, a personal commentary on U.S. politics.

America's young voters
respond to Obama's words
in a unique way,
chiming in with their own lyrical rendition of

"Yes We Can"

An excerpt from the lyrics:

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics ...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

...we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea –

Yes. We. Can.

:: Click this: The Adjusted Pie Chart ::

Keep your finger on the 2008 pre-election pulse:

click here

for links to major
public-opinion pollsters
on the Democratic field vs. the Republican nominee.


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The Adjusted Pie Chart

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According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau report, nearly one in ten of the nation’s 3,141 counties has a resident population that is made up of more than 50 percent of so-called 'minorities' when sorted by (age,) sex, race and country-of-origin. This demographic brings the total number of minority-turned-majority counties to 303. The most recent counties added to this statistic are Denver County, Colo., and East Baton Rouge Parish, La.


So, now what? Hadn’t the U.S. Homeland Security Department better put up fences around each of these 303 counties in order to control the spread of this 'alarming' trend? (Heaven help us...!)

"Luckily," America's wealth, resources, corporations and polticians are still owned and controlled by 2% of the white male population (hello...!). Imagine what these new upstart majorities would do if they ever took over, a prospect unfathomable to the rich ruling class which considers itself omnipotent and uncontestable.


In some areas, minorities and others who were equally marginalized have gained a foothold in the new political power structure.


While it took hundreds of years before Blacks in America made the slightest political impact, they now have an opportunity to vote into office a candidate from their own ethnic background.
American women finally gained the right to vote in the 1920's. It is only now that they are in a position to support one of their own for president.

The question is, whether or not these formerly unempowered segments of the population will assert themselves at the ballot box in large enough numbers to cut the as yet unbroken chain of white male dominance in the White House.

Some of us dearly hope so, while others don't...


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How to pick and choose

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It's that time again in American politics: The candidates are atwitter, the campaigns are abuzz and the debates abound. Even if you are a diligent voter and make an effort to follow all the hype, you will soon find yourself buried under an avalanche of (mis)information.




It is a common strategy, employed by campaign managers everywhere, to comingle political issues with popular culture in order to attract even the most a-political of citizens.

Many like to think that our personal lives, our family concerns, our health issues, our financial matters, our social contacts, our recreational activities, our private pursuits, our religious affiliations, our choice of entertainment exist in a separate sphere from our town halls, our state houses, our courts, our Congress and our president.

This widespread misconception is being exploited by skilled campaign strategists who wrap their message inside more popular and innocuous slogans and images so it will penetrate down to "where we live".

The question: - How do we separate fact from fabrication?
The answer: - Focus on the issues that matter to you, and examine each candidate's stand on them.

Here are some examples of what might, or should, be of importance to you, your future and the future of your children and grandchildren:

* Assault Weapons Ban
* Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling
* Iraq War
* US Patriot Act
* Universal Healthcare
* Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change

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[Picture THIS]


(Sidebar: 'Democracy' by Leonard Cohen)



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