Feature: Shifters

This is so unbelievable....So wrong!!!! If your an American with any spiritual depth, with any conscious awareness, be advised. The Dark Ages are upon us. Ms. Mayer has numerous interviews on line if you would like to hear her story.

Editorial Reviews
"If you intend to vote in November and read only one book between now and then, this should be it.” —Los Angeles Times

“Some of “The Dark Side” seems right out of “The Final Days,” minus Nixon’s operatic boozing and weeping…. Nixon parallels take us only so far, however. “The Dark Side” is scarier than “The Final Days” because these final days aren’t over yet and because the stakes are much higher.” —Frank Rich, New York Times

“In The Dark Side, Jane Mayer, a staff writer for the New Yorker, documents some of the ugliest allegations of wrongdoing charged against the Bush administration. To dismiss these as wild, anti-American ravings will not do. They are facts, which Mayer substantiates in persuasive detail, citing the testimony not of noted liberals like Noam Chomsky or Keith Olbermann but of military officers, intelligence professionals, "hard-line law-and-order stalwarts in the criminal justice system" and impeccably conservative Bush appointees who resisted the conspiracy from within the administration.” —Washington Post Book World

“Whatever it takes to get those bastards. The true nature of our Faustian bargain would not become clear until later, and maybe it needed a journalist as steely and tenacious as Jane Mayer to give us the full picture. "The Dark Side" is about how the war on terror became "a war on American ideals," and Mayer gives this story all the weight and sorrow it deserves. Many books get tagged with the word "essential"; hers actually is.” —Salon.com

“In Jane Mayer's angry and important book ``The Dark Side,'' the tenacious New Yorker reporter takes us, step by step, through the process by which practices and methods we associate with tyrannies became official U.S. policy.” —Bloomberg

“(In) The Dark Side, Jane Mayer’s riveting and shocking new book, and not the least of the themes to emerge from it is that we’ve witnessed something new in American history: the imperial vice presidency.” —New York Observer

Feature: Shifters

THROW THE BUMS OUT.

Below an excerpt Posted by http://www.paxamericana.net/ GREAT WORK

"Why is it so objectionable when a progressive group attempts to make a statement to one of those enablers (in this case, Speaker Pelosi) about her utter ineffectiveness? We progressives like to wave the Constitution around and say that we, unlike people on the Right, adhere to the values and ideals contained therein, yet there are some among us (I'm looking at you, Netroots Nation) who would restrict a group's freedom of expression for the sake of politeness?"

"I for one am tired of treating our piss-poor congressional leadership with kid gloves, like their shit doesn't stink. The fact is, Code Pink and those like them are right -- impeachment not only should be on the table, the hearings should have been underway for weeks or months by now. The Speaker has utterly failed to justify the faith that I, and so many of my progressive friends, placed in her upon her ascension to that lofty position. And now her apologists at Daily Kos still say that we have to be nice?"

Feature: Crossroads

Stefan Zaklin, a photographer who was working for the European Pressphoto Agency and embedded with a United States Army company photographed this soldier, who was shot and killed in Fallujah. After the photograph ran in several European publications Mr. Zaklin was banned from working with the US Army. (Photo: Stefan Zaklin / European Pressphoto Agency)

"NO ONE KNOWS WHAT IT LIKE...TO BE THE BAD MAN"

An excerpt from the blog :: http://calmbeforethesand.blogspot.com/
"My name is Seth, and I am twenty-five years old. I come from a small town in rural Michigan, on the shores of Lake Huron. I am an aspiring writer. I consider myself a follower of Zen Buddhist philosophy. I have a wife of three years, whom I love very much." "And it only got worse. I deployed several months before the start of what we now call "The Surge," that extra boost of 30,000 troops intended to pacify the region. It was a joke, and we all knew it. Those extra troops were us, simply extended for another three months, on top of all we had already suffered. The blow to our collective morale was crushing. Meanwhile, the months wore on, and the situation outside the wire grew ever more stark. Mortar and small-arms attacks jumped, and soon insurgents began to target the very structures we were put in place to maintain: bridges. With only two companies in theater to deal with the offensive, and one of those handling 80 percent of the workload, our injury, illness, and mental collapse rates soon skyrocketed. Missions where we worked 70+ hours without sleep became routine. We were worked to the bone, and crushed into the dirt, and when we objected, we were scorned, or even punished. Leaders neglected our safety and health, even as injury and attrition rates skyrocketed to over thirty percent. Eventually, the job became more likely to kill us than the enemy." "I'll admit it--I was angry. I think anyone would be. This was not how I had imagined we would be used. But that was the truth of it: we WERE being used, used to wage a war that was pointless and cruel, and was only hurting my family and friends. We were being used to justify horrible things, and used as a symbol to silence dissent. So yes, I was angry. And with this journal, I vented my anger. I cried out my fear and bitterness, castigated the armchair warriors for glorifying what they didn't understand. I criticized the leaders who had forgotten us, and appealed to the American people for redress."

NOTHING WILL STOP THE MADNESS--UNTIL WE CAN SEE...UNTIL WE CAN SEE..

From our Friends at www.truthout.org

OUR GOVERNMENT SEDUCES ITS CITIZENS....CITIZENS SWALLOW IT HOOK, LINE AND SINKER....OPEN YOUR EYES.

US Military Recruits Children: "America's Army" Video Game Violates International Law

Wednesday 23 July 2008

by: Michael B. Reagan, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

"America's Army" is a video game developed in part by the US Army to lure potential recruits. (Photo: techtarget.com)

" In May of 2002, the United States Army invaded E3, the annual video game convention held in Los Angeles. At the city's Convention Center, young game enthusiasts mixed with camouflaged soldiers, Humvees and a small tank parked near the entrance. Thundering helicopter sound effects drew the curious to the Army's interactive display, where a giant video screen flashed the words "Empower yourself. Defend America ... You will be a soldier."(1)

But behind the fun and games is an attempt, in the words of a military booklet on "America's Army," "to build a game for Army strategic communication in support of recruiting." The Army spent $6 million to develop the game at the Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation Institute (MOVES) before handing it over to private companies for adaptation to the console formats in 2004. As the name implies, the MOVES Institute is the military center for creating virtual training environments and simulators. A MOVES Institute booklet proclaims a later version of the game, "America's Army: Special Forces," was developed specifically to increase the number of Army Special Forces recruits. "The Department of Defense want[ed] to double the number of Special Forces Soldiers, so essential did they prove in Afghanistan and northern Iraq; consequently, orders ... trickled down the chain of command and found application in the current release of 'America's Army.'"(3) Yet, far from providing realism, "America's Army" offers a sanitized version of war to propagandize youth on the benefits of an Army career and prepare them for the battlefield. In the game, soldiers are not massacred in bloody fire typical of most video games, or for that matter, real combat. When hit, bullet wounds resemble puffs of red smoke, and players can take up to four hits before being killed. To further protect youth, concerned parents can turn on optional controls that sanitize the violence even more - shots produce no blood whatsoever and dead soldiers just sit down. This presentation of war contrasts to the much more grisly reality unfolding every day in Iraq and Afghanistan, like a June suicide attack on the Fallujah City Council in which three Marines, two interpreters and 20 Iraqis, including young children, were killed. Photos by American photojournalist Zoriah depict a horror scene in a small courtyard, dismembered body parts - ears, hands and pieces of skull - spot the ground; one Marine's head looks smeared into the pavement. Zoriah writes of the scene, "There are dying people strewn around like limp dolls along with lifeless bodies of all ages. People are screaming and crying and running as if they have something important to do, only they can't figure out what that important thing could possibly be ... people are literally frantic removing the dead, as if their pace may bring some of them back." It is this violent, realistic quality of combat that has been excised from the game."(5) AND WHO PROFITS.....AMERICAN PEOPLE?? THE SOLDIERS.???.NO SILLY ike so many aspects of contemporary military operations, the development of later versions of the game has been handed over to corporations for private profit. Some of the biggest game companies have worked on the console, arcade and cell phone versions of "America's Army." Ubisoft, the world's seventh largest video game company, is the game's exclusive producer and has recently publicized record profits for the first quarter of 2008. Ubisoft worked closely with San Francisco based Secret Level to develop the 2005 Xbox version. Global VR, in San Jose, California, is preparing the release of the arcade version, and Gameloft programmed a version available for download to cell phones. Getting in on the action are other more traditional military contractors, such as Digital Consulting Services (DSC), a multimillion-dollar military tech company based in Newbury Park, California. Among DCS's other projects are the Encore II Information Technology Solution for the innocuous sounding Global Information Grid, "an all encompassing communications project for the Department of Defense," worth $13 billion over five years. Or the Navy's Seaport-Enhanced - a $100 billion multicontract program to integrate Navy warfare operations. The Army worked closely with these and other companies to produce "America's Army," the first and only officially licensed Army game. It is this partnership and the close attention to technical detail that the Army and game companies claim gives "America's Army" its realistic quality. As Col. Casey Wardynski, director of the US Army's Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis (OEMA) and director of the game project proclaims, "America's Army" is "the most authentic console game about soldiering in the US Army."(4)

Feature: Doorways

Below: respectfully shared from this blog...
http://peacefullyprohibited.blogspot.com/2008/06/politics-triumph-science.html
take a look at This video...Do you see Hypocrisy...From a Nurses perspective....Opiates are profoundly more addictive and toxic to recovery from health issues than marijuana. The Federal Government approves dispensing "Speed" amphetamines; in the form of Aderal to our children, with minimal oversight; YET will spend thousands of tax payer $$ to raid, tether and imprison a man who dispense medical marijuana with a license to do so...WATCH THE VIDEO.
Do you see what I see..Black is White...War is Peace...CONTROL IT IS ALL ABOUT CONTROL.
BIG BROTHER IS REAL.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 Politics Triumph Science

Raiding California with commentary by Drew Carey:

The DEA seems to be hard at work fighting our "War on Drugs".

The Federal Trial for Charles C. Lynch is set for July 22, 2008 in Los Angeles, CA.
As you'll read below, Charles Lynch is a great man who's worked hard to bring relief to many suffering people. He did it with permission and blessings from local officials. He was raided by DEA and is now facing federal charges, and many years in prison. The Federal Government has successfully blocked the jury from knowing that Lynch was operating a business which was allowed by California State Law and sanctioned by the City of Morro Bay, California. The jury thinks he's a large scale drug kingpin, and no evidence is allowed in court to say otherwise.

THE TRUTH----

Charles C. Lynch was the owner and operator of a City Sanctioned
Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Morro Bay California. The Dispensary
opened in April 2006. The business license issued by the city clearly
stated 'Medical Marijuana Dispensary' as the business type. The city
also issued a Conditions of Business document which stated, "no person
under the age of 18 unless accompanied by a parent should be allowed
in the dispensary." The business was also a member of the Morro Bay
Chamber of Commerce. In July 2006, the dispensary was issued a Medical
Cannabis Nursery Permit after a lengthy conditional use permit
process.

The dispensary operated for nearly a year without incident until the
local Sheriff, Pat Hedges, called in the DEA to raid the dispensary on
March 29, 2007. Lynch was not arrested at that time and reopened the
business with the blessing of the Landlord and City Officials. The DEA
subsequently contacted the Landlord and threatened him with forfeiture
of his property and possible prosecution if he did not evict the
dispensary from his building. The dispensary closed on May 16, 2007.
On July 17, 2007 federal agents and the local sheriff arrested Charles
C. Lynch and charged him with a series of federal crimes including,
distributing to persons under 21 years of age. Lynch spent 4 days in
federal detention and was eventually released on a $400,000 bail
posted by his family. Lynch was placed under house arrest and was
required to wear an electronic monitor for 10 months while he waited
for his trial to begin.

Feature Shifters

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/workplace/#92799

CHECK THIS OUT....THANK GOOD THERE ARE PEOPLE LIKE BILL MOYERS.

Bill Moyers Takes Us to the Heart of the Mortgage Meltdown

Posted by Bill Moyers, Rick Karr, Bill Moyers Journal on July 25, 2008 at 12:51 PM.
"

Plus Naomi Klein's (author of The Shock Doctrine) has something to add::: Complete article can be found at http://www.alternet.org/workplace/91656/naomi_klein:_bush_sees_crises_in_fuel,_food,_housing_and_banking_as_chance_to_exploit_us_more/

"As the country and the world reel from crises ranging from skyrocketing oil prices and global food shortages to housing and climate change, how best to understand the government policies being pushed through? Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman interviewed Naomi Klein, author of 'The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism'.
Amy Goodman: President Bush has lifted an almost two-decade-old executive order banning offshore and natural gas drilling. With prices at the pump over $4 a gallon, Bush has been pushing to allow more drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic Wildlife National Refuge, amidst strong opposition from environmentalists.
The executive drilling ban was issued by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. His son's lifting of the ban yesterday is largely symbolic, because a separate congressional ban has prohibited offshore drilling since 1981. Speaking on the White House lawn Monday, the President urged lawmakers to lift the ban.
President George Bush: The failure to act is unacceptable. It's unacceptable to me, and it's unacceptable to the American people. So today I've issued a memorandum to lift the executive prohibition on oil exploration in the OCS. With this action, the executive branch's restrictions on this exploration have been cleared away. This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the US Congress. Now the ball is squarely in Congress's court.
Goodman: In President Bush's final months of office, the economy is at the top of the agenda. Oil prices now exceed $140 a barrel, more than double $70 a year ago. The high cost of oil has helped exacerbate the global food crisis that threatens to push over 100 million people below the poverty line due to rising food prices. This all comes amidst an ongoing housing crisis, with the US Treasury and Federal Reserve unveiling sweeping steps to possibly bail out the nation's two largest mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Amidst these multiple crises, how best to understand government policies being enacted? Naomi Klein is the author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. The book is out in paperback this month. It was first published in September, and in some ways, much of what Naomi writes about in the book is more relevant today. ... Food, fuel, housing, climate change -- talk about these crises. First, start with oil.
Klein: There really is a kind of a tsunami of shocks facing not just the economy but people's lives, people's real lives. They're all intersecting. They're making each other worse. And I think we really are seeing some very live examples of what a write about in the book, which is how there is a strategy. And this is what I mean by "the shock doctrine." There is a clear political strategy, and has been for several decades, to exploit these moments when people are desperate for quick-fix solutions and more inclined to believe in a kind of a magical cure, to push through very, very unpopular policies that don't actually solve the crisis at hand, that don't actually help people, but are incredibly profitable for multinational corporations.
And I think we are seeing a very vivid example of this with this speech from George Bush yesterday, where he is taking a very real crisis, which is demanding complex and profound changes in the way we live, in the way we organize our economy, but particularly in the need to diversify our energy sources. And I think there's a tremendous actual amount of support for this idea from the public. And he comes in -- and I call him in my recent column the "extortionist-in-chief." Basically what he's saying is he's holding the country ransom. He's not taking any of these long-term policy routes to dealing with climate change, to dealing with high oil prices. It's just let us drill, or, you know, nobody can go on summer vacation. And he's selling a myth, which is that by allowing drilling, the price at the pump is going to go down, which is really interesting, because just yesterday, in response to Bush's announcement, oil went up, and oil futures went up. And so, the price of oil is going to keep going up.
Goodman: What would -- how long would it take the oil drilled offshore, if he succeeds in getting his father's ban reversed, to get into the supply?
Klein: Well, first of all, I think it's really important for people to understand that we are being subjected to an incredibly aggressive media campaign sponsored by the oil and gas industry. And, you know, it's to the point where it really is impossible to tell the difference between the paid advertisements, which we're being bombarded with on cable news from the oil and gas industry, talking about how they can solve the problem of high prices with more drilling, and all of these commentators, from Larry Kudlow to Sean Hannity, repeating these talking points, and not to mention Dick Cheney, who just propagated a complete lie, saying that China was drilling off the coast of Cuba, and the Vice President's office actually had to retract that. It turns out his source was George Will, who also had to issue a correction. China is not drilling off of Cuba. And so, there's a very aggressive campaign going on. "

Feature: Shifters

I found this article provocative especially written in todays world wide porn craze...compliments of the web and adult TV....found it sad and pathetic; disgusting from a feminists viewpoint..and couldnt agree with it more...I have been thinking this for along time, and everyone told me I was crazy....yeah well, guess I not the only one.
--I hope---maybe--- it speaks to what IS being called up---as feminine energy rises .... this energy again invites ...the sacred dance... between the feminine and the masculine.
thanks to the Ranger and to Mr. Fulford! http://www.rangeragainstwar.blogspot.com/

Bob Fulford wrote in this weekend's National Post that Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire has served to mutilate male-female relations, arresting male development to the juvenile level of the forbidden gaze at the homogeneously perfect female form. Perhaps the attainment of that form will become his quest; perhaps, because he cannot attain or maintain it, he will become resentful and angry, and foist that resentment off on the actual mates he is able to bed. http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/07/18/robert-fulford-on-playboy-s-hugh-hefner-establishment-man.aspx

In any event, sex is the raison d'etre, which one could say is a sound biological approach. However, if we fancy we humans are capable of attaining a higher plane, bunny ears won't take you there.

Fulford mentions Dutch historian Dylan van Rijsbergen who argues for an anti-Hefner, Slow Sex movement — "focusing on sex as 'elusive, exciting, intense, playful, authentic, dynamic and sublime.' It would stretch sexuality 'beyond the single moment of the orgasm.'" Van Rijsbergen argues widespread pornography degenerates into erotic boredom.

One needn't go either-or on the matter of pornography. I'm a defender of Free Speech. Efforts to liberate body image are a good thing, though these models are highly airbrushed, and their perfection can serve to stunt a girl's self-image. The Naomi Kleins and Andrea Dworkins have already written extensively on the objectification of women.

Surely such objectification predates Playboy. But the men of Generation Playboy have been "liberated" to see the female body as a playground, but a playground for their entertainment, with pleasing the woman as a tack-on feature to buoy their own ego agenda and sense of proficiency. There is little more painful than standing on either side of the gulf separating the sexes and hoping that proper genital manipulation will release a torrent of passion. At best, what will be achieved is a momentary physical release.

Author Nick Hornby captures this tragedy a deux nicely in his How to Be Good when he talks about the estranged couple's bedtime antics as "button pushing" sessions. Not psychological buttons, but anatomical buttons, like playing a game of pinball.

Not to knock the physiological benefit of getting off, but truly great sex isn't to be had through button pushing. There is a psychic gap between getting off and transcendent union, the latter which usually goes lacking. For the people in the former group, sex is masturbation with company. The psyche in hiding is fragmented, split as it is from inhabiting the body at such moments.

One of the commenters to the piece, "TCtheTiger" expresses it thusly:

"There is fun, a lot of it, in sex. But that fun becomes truly erotic and transcendental ONLY when sex is used as an expression of love towards the spouse, a total gift of oneself, without any reservation, yes, ZERO reservation. This kind of reservation is sorely lacking in casual sex.

"I never depreciate the carnal nature - just [want] an atomic bomb to harness [its] energy.

"When the carnal, the heart, the mind, and the spirit converge, you're close to heaven, that's real erotic. The carnal alone is just not cutting it...."

What do you think?

Feature: Shifters

Red Full Moon Rising in Capricorn..... shall we pay attention...shall we choice action....shall we stand together as people of sane humanity and reject the state of war, poverty and greed... it is an individual choice....it is an individual call to action...it is a Group effort.


If not us, who? If not now, when? - Anonymous